
zy. ft*? 






*&iu t »V/ ..(2.2- 

t&^yiytt ^JVi 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




' Mercy, mercy, Lord, on poor Cambo." S 



GRACE AND GLORY 



THE YOUNG CONVERT INSTRUCTED IN 
THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE. 



BEING A SEQUEL TO " THE GOSPEL FOUNTAIN." 



BY JAMES WOOD, D. D. 



— 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 

NO. 821 CHESTNUT STREET. 



\A/o>1~ 



Entered accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

JAMES DUNLAP, Treas., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District 

of Pennsylvania. 




JES-PEK HARDING & SON, 

INQUIRER BUILDING, SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE. 



This volume is designed as a sequel to the 
" Gospel Fountain/' in which, after noticing our 
fallen and ruined condition, we discussed the doc- 
trines of the atonement, justification by faith, the 
agency of the Holy Spirit in renewing the heart, 
sanctification, good works, and the perseverance 
of the saints. These topics, connected with those 
which are discussed in the following conversations, 
form a summary of what are usually styled " the 
doctrines of grace." Though the two volumes may 
be profitably read apart, the reader will derive 
additional advantage by perusing them together. 
The subjects treated in both are streams from 
the same gospel fountain — streams which flow 
through our world to make glad myriads of human 

(3) 



4 PREFACE. 

hearts, and which terminate in that ocean of 
eternal joy where grace is perfected in glory. 

Reader, if you have tasted and seen that the 
Lord is gracious, use your influence to induce 
others to seek this same privilege for themselves. 
t The following anecdote, published some years 
ago, illustrates the blessed effect of christian love 
and fidelity in addressing our fellow men with 
reference to their spiritual state : In 1839, a 
gentleman, on a visit to Saratoga, went one morn- 
ing to take a draught at Congress Spring, and met 
a lady there taking her usual draught at the same 
spring. He asked her, " Have you ever drunk at 
that Great Fountain V 1 She coloured, and looked 
surprised; but turned away without a word of 
reply. The next winter that gentleman was in 
Rochester, and attended a prayer-meeting one eve- 
ning in the Baptist church. A person present 
invited him to go home with him and see his 
wife who was very ill. As he entered the room, 
she looked up and smiled, and said, " Don't you 
know me ?" " No," said he. " Don't you remem- 



PREFACE. 5 

ber asking a woman at Congress Spring, t Have 
you ever drunk at that Great Fountain V " "Yes, 
he replied. " Well/' said she, " 1 am that person ; 
I thought at first you were very rude, but your 
words kept ringing in my ears. They followed 
me to my chamber, to my pillow ; I found no 
rest till I found it in Christ. I expect to die 
soon, and go to heaven, and you, under God, are 
the means of my salvation ! Be as faithful to 
others as you have been to me. Never be afraid 
to talk to strangers on the subject of religion. " 

As with the volume entitled "The Gospel Fount- 
ain/' so with this ; I respectfully dedicate it to the 
Youth of the Presbyterian Church, with my 
earnest desire and prayer that they may all obey 
the gospel invitation to come to that Great Fount- 
ain, and " take the water of life freely/' 

" Blest are the men whose hearts are set 
To find the way to Zion's gate j 
All needful grace will God bestow, 
And crown that grace with glory too." 

1* 



CONTENTS. 



CONVERSATION I. 

PAGB 

Predestination, or Grace in its Origin. . . 9 

CONVERSATION II. 

Regeneration, or Grace implanted in the Heart, and 
manifested in Conversion. . . . .56 

CONVERSATION III. 

Repentance, or Grace producing godly sorrow for Sin, 
and a new and holy Life. . . . .98 

CONVERSATION IV. 

Grace abounding, or penitent Sinners welcome to 

Christ 139 

(?) 



8 CONTENTS. 

CONVEKSATION V. 

PAGB 

Adoption, or Grace constituting converted Sinners 
Children of God 178 

CONVERSATION VI. 

Grace and Comfort, or the Doctrines of Grace a source 
of true Happiness to Believers. . . .220 

CONVERSATION VII. 

Grace consummated in Glory, or the blessed and glo- 
rious Issues of Grace in the heavenly World. . 269 

Conclusion. 314 



GRACE AND GLORY. 



CONVERSATION I. 

PREDESTINATION, OR GRACE IN ITS ORIGIN. 

At family worship one evening, Mr. James 
read the conversation between our Divine Lord 
and the woman of Samaria, recorded in the 
fourth chapter of John. The woman having 
expressed her surprise that Christ should ask 
drink of her, a woman of Samaria, he said to 
her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and 
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, 
thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would 
have given thee living water. The woman 
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw 
with, and the well is deep, from whence then 
hast thou that living water ?" 

On reading this verse, Mr. James remarked, 

19) 



10 GRACE AND GLORY. 

I do not approve of fanciful interpretations 
of God's word ; but some passages suggest im- 
portant truth, though when strictly interpreted 
according to their original intention, they do 
not teach it. In a volume of popular sermons, 
by an eloquent and celebrated preacher, one 
of his discourses was founded on a part of this 
conversation. From the clause, " Thou hast 
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep," 
he deduced this sentiment ; viz., that the mys- 
tery of godliness, like a deep and unfathom- 
able fountain, cannot be explained or under- 
stood by human reason, but must be received 
by faith in Divine revelation ; and that our 
unbelief, with regard to this mystery, arises 
from our failure to recognize in the teachings 
of the gospel, the unerring words of infinite 
wisdom. This sentiment, said Mr. James, 
though not designed to be taught by these 
words, is suggested by them ; and it is a truth 
which ought to be considered much oftener 
than it is, bf readers of the Bible. The gos- 
pel is called by Paul a mystery. It is ad- 
dressed to our faith more than to our intellect ; 



GRACE AND GLORY. 11 

and oui; proper course is to seek, with pious 
and believing hearts, the living water which 
Christ offers to give us in answer to our request, 
and not to neglect it, nor cavil at it, because 
its Divine source is beyond our profoundest 
researches, or our highest conceptions. 

Mr. James intended these remarks in no 
small degree for his son, Henry, who was ask- 
ing questions of his father, almost daily, 
concerning Predestination, and upon which 
he had told him he would converse on the next 
Sabbath evening. When the appointed hour 
arrived, Henry James said to his father, Your 
remarks about Jacob's well, a few evenings 
ago, have been running in my thoughts ever 
since, and they seem to be more applicable to 
Predestination than to any other doctrine of 
grace. To me at least, the well is deep, and 
I have nothing to draw with. 

PREDESTINATION NOT CONTRARY TO REASON 
— VIEWS OF WILLIAM THE THIRD — ANEC- 
DOTE OF HENRY JAMES'S GRANDFATHER. 

Mr. James replied, The fact that you are not 



12 GRACE AND GLORY. 

able to comprehend this doctrine, is no evidence 
against its truth. There are many truth3 
which we cannot comprehend, particularly 
those which relate to God, who is infinite in 
his nature. " Canst thou by searching find 
out God ? Canst thou find out the Almighty 
unto perfection?" Considering the infinity 
of the Divine nature, the reception of this 
doctrine is attended with less difficulty than 
its denial. Though the Divine decrees, of 
which Predestination forms a part, are above 
our reason, they are so far from being con- 
trary to reason, that the denial of them has 
often struck the minds of reflecting men as 
absurd. When King William the Third, of 
England, was asked whether he could believe 
in the doctrine of fore-ordination, his reply 
was, "I cannot help believing it; for I cannot 
degrade my Maker below the character of a 
wise man, by thinking that he acted without 
a plan, and without regarding the consequences 
of what he did." 

Henry James remarked, Grandfather used 
to reason in a similar manner. He once 



GRACE AND GLORY. 13 

said that a pious gentleman had frequent dis- 
cussions on the subject of Divine decrees with a 
housebuilder, an Arminian, who was engaged in 
building him a house. When the house was 
finished, he accompanied the builder through 
every apartment, in order to examine the car- 
penter work, the masonry, and the style of 
finishing, preparatory to accepting the con- 
tract. Every part was constructed agreeably 
to his expectations. As he was expressing his 
approbation of the work, he said to the builder, 
How did you succeed in erecting so mechan- 
ical, so well-arranged, and so tasty an edifice ? 
Oh, said he, I drew a plan of the building 
before I commenced, and always followed that 
plan. Indeed ! responded the owner, You 
cannot erect a house without previously form- 
ing a plan ; and yet according to your senti- 
ments, God created the world, and now governs 
it without a plan ! The builder, said my 
grandfather, was silenced, if not convinced. 

Mr. James replied, The reasoning of that 
gentleman was sound, whether the builder was 
convinced by it or not. Persons who warmly 



14 GRACE AND GLORY. 

commit themselves to a particular side of a 
controversy, are not easily convinced, even 
though they may be in error. 

"A man convinced against his will, 
Is of the same opinion still." 

THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION STATED, 
WITH A CLEAR SCRIPTURE PROOF. 

The doctrine of Predestination, continued 
Mr. James, may be stated thus ; Predestina- 
tion is Grod's eternal purpose to save those who 
will finally be saved. Though the contempla- 
tion of this statement involves thoughts too 
vast for the full comprehension of limited 
capacities like ours, the doctrine expressed 
by it, not only accords with right reason, as I 
have already said, but also with the holy Scrip- 
tures, and with the Christian's own religious 
experience. No doctrine is taught more ex- 
plicitly in the Bible than this. At present, I 
will quote only a single passage — a passage, 
which I once heard an intelligent merchant 
repeat with much animation, and at the close, 
he pronounced it one of the most sublime pas- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 15 

sages in the New Testament. "Blessed be 
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
-who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings 
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he 
hath chosen us in him, before the foundation 
of the world, that we should be holy, and with- 
out blame before him in love. Having pre- 
destinated us unto the adoption of children by 
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good 
pleasure of his will." Eph. i. 3 — 5. What 
can be more sublime, exclaimed that gentle- 
man, than this ? Strange, that every reader 
of the Bible cannot perceive it. Further 
proof of the doctrine will be adduced as I 
proceed ; but this text is sufficient to show 
how clearly it is taught in the holy Scriptures, 
and also that the Apostle Paul blessed God 
for those privileges which flowed to him and to 
his Christian brethren, as the fruits of this 
doctrine. 

FALSE VIEWS OF PREDESTINATION REFUTED 
BY A PIOUS WOMAN. 

All who profess to believe the Bible, said 



16 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Mr. James, hold to Predestination or Election 
of some kind ; though many explain it in such 
a manner, as almost to destroy its scriptural 
character. Some make it relate only to priv- 
ileges, and not to salvation. Others under- 
stand it as depending on the will of the 
creature, as much as on the will of God. And 
others again hold it to be a purpose formed 
at our birth, or when we believe, and not from 
eternity. None of these views express the 
scriptural doctrine on this subject. The rea- 
soning of a pious woman, who was appealed 
to by two young theologians for her opinion, 
effectually upsets them all. She said, "If 
my election had been to privileges only, or 
even to grace, yet making my salvation depend- 
ent on my own strength and faithfulness, I 
should have no hope ; for without God I can 
do nothing ; and as to the time, I am sure if 
God had not elected me before my birth, he 
would never have done it at all, because there 
has been nothing good in me since I was born, 
to be the ground of my election.' ' 

The text which I have quoted, states the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 17 

time of our election, ( if it is proper to call it 
time,) viz., " before the foundation of the 
world/' and also the ground of it, viz., not our 
goodness either possessed or foreseen, but 
" the good pleasure of his will." This passage 
implies, moreover, that election is unto salva- 
tion, through holiness as a means, which is 
asserted in so many words by the same Apos- 
tle in another epistle, and with a similar ex- 
pression of his gratitude to God. " But we 
are bound to give thanks always to God for 
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because 
God hath from the beginning chosen you to 
salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, 
and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. ii. 13. 

PREDESTINATION ACCORDS WITH THE CHRIST- 
IAN'S EXPERIENCE — A PERSONAL NARRA- 
TIVE. 

When 1 entered the ministry, continued Mr. 
James, I preached some ten or twelve months 
in a delightful and romantic valley, in the state 
of Pennsylvania. There was an extensive re- 
vival in that county. About three hundred pro- 
2* 



18 GRACE AND GLORY. 

fessed religion, one third of whom united with 
the Presbyterian church. Two young men, bro- 
thers, came some fourteen or fifteen miles to con- 
verse with me on the subject of religion, espe- 
cially on the doctrine of Predestination, con- 
cerning which they wished to learn my views. 
One of them was a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and the other, on whose account the 
visit was made, had recently, as he hoped, ex- 
perienced a change of heart. The substance 
of our conversation was published in a tract, 
which passed through two editions, containing, 
both together, several thousand copies. As 
that tract is now before me, and expresses my 
present views, you may read the first part of 
it, and I wish you to notice, as you proceed, 
how far the experience of this young convert 
accords with your own. Henry James read 
as follows : — 



BATION. 

A conversation between a Presbyterian min- 
ister and a young convert. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 19 

Convert. Sir, I have called to converse 
with you on a subject which has frequently 
occupied my mind, and more especially since 
I have had reason to believe that I am a child 
of God, and have felt a desire to make a pub- 
lic profession of religion. My preferences are 
in favour of the Presbyterian church ; but I 
have been told that you believe in the awful 
doctrine of Predestination, or, as I have gener- 
ally heard it expressed, in Election and Re- 
probation, which circumstance makes me doubt- 
ful as to my duty of connecting myself with 
your church. As I have, however, derived 
my information chiefly from those not very 
friendly to your denomination, I desire to 
have an explanation from your own lips. 

Minister. What, sir, are the ideas which 
they give you of our belief ? 

0. You believe, say they, that a certain 
part of mankind, called the elect, were from 
eternity ordained or predestinated to ever- 
lasting life ; and that it makes no difference 
whether they repent, believe, and live holy 
lives, or not, that their salvation is sure, let 



20 GRACE AND GLORY. 

them feel and act as they may. You hold on 
the other hand, they say, that there is a class 
called reprobates, whom God from eternity 
ordained or predestinated to everlasting mis- 
ery; that they were created for the purpose 
of being damned; that if they should repent 
and believe, and turn to God ever so earnestly 
and sincerely, it would be of no avail ; that 
they are decreed to destruction, and thither 
they must go, do what they can. You are 
also charged with believing that there are in- 
fants in hell not a span long; which I suppose 
is a part of the same doctrine, the reason of 
their condemnation being the eternal decree 
of God. 

M. As to the assertion concerning infants, 
I doubt whether a Presbyterian minister ever 
expressed himself in this manner, or in any 
other language which conveys the same idea. 
This is not the sentiment of Presbyterians. 
God has revealed little about infants in a 
future world; but from several passages of 
Scripture which bear on this subject, our 



GRACE AND GLORY. 21 

ministers universally agree, as far as I know, 
that those dying in infancy are saved.* 

The statement which you have made con- 
cerning the doctrine of predestination is also 
a gross misrepresentation of our sentiments. 
We do indeed believe in personal and eternal 
election ; but not in the way which you have 
described. In order to give you our views on 
this subject, permit me to ask you a few 
questions concerning your own conversion. 
These questions and accompanying remarks 
will be such as to indicate what our views are, 
and your answers will show how far these 
views correspond with your own experience. 
My first question is, Who is the author of 
your conversion ? 

0. God is the sole author. I am sensible 
that a change has been wrought in my feelings 
which I never accomplished myself, and which 
indeed I never could have accomplished. 

M. This accords with the declarations of 
Scripture: "You hath he quickened who 

* See Tract No. 132, " Are Infants saved ?" published 
by the Presbyterian Board. 



22 GRACE AND GLORY. 

were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. ii. 1. 
" Which were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but 
of God." John i. 13. My next question is, 
What induced God to change your heart? 
Was it because he saw that you were better 
than your neighbours who have not expe- 
rienced this change ? 

C. Certainly not. I feel myself entirely un- 
worthy of his favour. There was no good 
thing in me to call forth his kindness, but 
much to excite his displeasure. I attribute 
my conversion altogether to his rich and 
sovereign mercy! As Paul says, "By grace 
are ye saved, through faith, and that not of 
yourselves, it is the gift of God." Eph. ii. 8. 

M. You feel then that God has done more 
for you than he had done before your conver- 
sion. 

0. Yes, sir, he has done all for me that I 
have experienced. Blessed be his name ! 

M. You are sensible then, I suppose, that 
God has done more for you, than for your 
unconverted neighbours, who are now in the 



GRACE AXD GLORY. 23 

same state as you were, prior to your conver- 
sion. 

0. To be sure. It was not my goodness 
that has made the difference. I was no better 
than they, and I was pursuing the same path 
with them to eternal misery. God has made 
the difference, and to his name be all the glory. 
I take no praise to myself. 

if. So thought the Apostle Paul, "Who 
maketh thee to differ from another, and what 
hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" 1 Cor. 
iv. 7. Would God have showed you any in- 
justice if he had permitted you to go on in 
your sinful ways, and had sentenced you to 
destruction ? 

C. No, sir; his throne would have been 
for ever guiltless. I deserved wrath, and I 
consider it a wonder that I was not cut off 
many years ago. I was pursuing the paths 
of sin and folly, careless of my spiritual welfare, 
and when the Holy Spirit strove with me, I 
did not yield my heart to him, but often re- 
sisted his strivings, and went on still in my 
sinful course. For a while, indeed, I was in- 



24 GRACE AND GLORY. 

duced to pray, in order to allay my distress 
of mind; but I am now convinced that my 
prayers were not acceptable to God, because 
they did not proceed from a penitent and be- 
lieving heart ; and hence I ceased praying as 
soon as my mind was diverted by worldly 
things. Oh, I have deserved hell a thousand 
times ! 

M. Do you not think that your prayers had 
some influence in gaining the Divine favour ? 

0. I once thought so, though I felt my 
prayers to be somewhat defective, yet I im- 
agined they were growing better, and were 
making me better, and so more worthy of 
God's regard. But I now perceive that I was 
mistaken ; for, as I have just remarked, my 
prayers were not acceptable to God, and con- 
sequently could have had no influence in ob- 
taining his favour ; except, indeed, as a means 
of grace which he has appointed, and in the 
use of which he ordinarily meets the sinner. 
As to any merit, there was none; I never 
should have attempted to pray at all, unless 
God had discovered to me my guilt and dan- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 25 

ger, and inclined me to seek him. I regard 
all my experience, as far as it has been of a 
right character, from my first convictions of 
sin to the present time, as the effect of God's 
Spirit upon my heart. 

M. Your experience doubtless corresponds 
in these particulars with that of every true 
Christian. Though man is not passive in the 
work of conversion, and hence he is often ex- 
horted in Scripture to "repent," to "believe," 
to "pray," to "work," agreeably to which 
commands the Christian, previous to his con- 
version, made an effort to come to Christ and 
to do works meet for repentance; yet he is 
fully persuaded, from a knowledge of his own 
depravity, that unless he had received spe^al 
assistance from God, he never would have 
made a single effort in the way which the gos- 
pel requires. He, therefore, fully accords 
with the Apostle in saying, "By the grace of 
God, I am what I am." 1 Cor. xv. 10. "Not 
by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he saved us, by 
the washing of regeneration and renewing of 



26 GRACE AND GLORY. 

the Holy Ghost." Titus iii. 5. Now since you 
are convinced that the author of the change 
which has been wrought in your heart is God, 
my next question is, How did it come to pass 
that God performed this work for you ? Was 
it a mere accident, a dispensation of heavenly 
favour falling at random, which you had the 
good fortune to appropriate to yourself, or was 
it the fruit of God's gracious design towards 
you? 

Q. God must certainly have thought of 
working this change in me before it w r as pro- 
duced. Men do not generally act without 
design, much less God. His merciful design 
renders him worthy of our gratitude for the 
favours we receive from his hand. Though a 
person may do me a great kindness, yet if he 
did not intend my good, I could not feel grate- 
ful to him for the favour. So, though this 
work be of God, yet if he performed it with- 
out design, why should I praise him for what 
I have experienced? Oh, I am convinced 
that the work wrought in my heart is not the 
fruit of blind chance, but the work of an in- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 



27 



telligent and merciful Being, who, in the 
bestowment of bis heavenly gifts, thought of 
me, and was pleased to designate me as a 
trophy of his grace. 

if. These ideas are as agreeable to Scrip- 
ture as to reason. " We love him because he 
first loved us." 1 John iv. 19. This passage, 
if analyzed, and its meaning expressed in sev- 
eral particulars, contains the following pro- 
positions : 1. There was a time when Christ- 
ians did not love God. 2. At that time God 
loved them. 3. If God had not then loved 
them, they never would have loved God. In 
other words, their present love to God is the con- 
sequence of God's former love to them. Agree- 
ably to this, Christ said to his disciples, " Ye 
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 
and ordained you that you should go and bring 
forth fruit." John xv. 6. And these words 
accord with every Christian's experience. All 
who, like Mary, have chosen Christ for their 
portion, ascribe their choice of him to the in- 
fluence of Divine grace upon their hearts. 

But when do you suppose God first thought 



28 GRACE AND GLORY. 

of you in the manner which you have described ? 
Has God any new thoughts ? Does he design 
anything to-day which he had not designed 
yesterday, or does he think of that now which 
he had never thought of before ? With God 
there is no succession of time. He is " from 
everlasting to everlasting," and as his existence 
is eternal, " his understanding is infinite.'" 
Psalm cxlvii. 5. "He knoweth all things." 
1 John iii. 20. " Known unto God are all 
his works, from the beginning of the world." 
Acts xv. 18. " Neither is there any creature 
that is not manifest in his sight, but all things 
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him 
with whom we have to do." Heb. iv. 13. 
What God knows and designs now, he must 
have known and designed from the beginning, 
i. e., from eternity. 

0. I am'obliged to subscribe to these senti- 
ments, for they not only accord with Scripture 
as you have quoted it, but also with my own 
inward experience. I sometimes look back 
with wonder and joy, and endeavour to trace 
the stream of divine mercy which has flowed 



GRACE AND GLORY. 29 

into my soul to its original fountain ; but I 
soon find myself lost in contemplating the 
everlasting love of God. 

M. You have now expressed what we mean 
by predestination, that is, that part of pre- 
destination called election. It is simply grace 
traced back to its divine origin, like a stream 
traced to its source, or an effect to its cause. 
In other words, predestination is the design 
or purpose of God to perform that work of 
grace in the heart which believers experi- 
ence at their conversion, and to bring them 
through progressive sanctification to everlast- 
ing life. This design or purpose was eternal, 
because God is "the same yesterday, to-day, 
and for ever; ,, and consequently he has no 
design or purpose now which he did not have 
before the creation of the world. His design 
or purpose reaches forward to the salvation 
of his elect; but not without including their 
previous preparation for heaven. "Whom he 
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be 
conformed to the image of his Son, that he 
might be the first born among many brethren. 
3* 



30 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Moreover, whom lie did predestinate, them he 
also called: and whom he called, them he also 
justified : and whom he justified, them he also 
glorified." Rom. viii. 29, 30. God has not 
chosen sinners to salvation, in impenitence 
and unbelief; but through sanctification of the 
spirit and belief of the truth. 2 Thess. ii. 
13. The divine purpose contemplates, first, 
grace wrought in us; secondly, a holy life, 
which is the fruit of saving grace in the heart ; 
and thirdly, eternal glory, as the gracious re- 
ward of Christian fidelity. These three, grace, 
holiness, and glory, are the three links which 
form the golden chain of the sinner's salva- 
tion. See Titus, ii. 11 — 13. Hence though 
in respect to God, election is unconditional; 
because there was no good thing foreseen in 
any, to induce him to ordain them to eternal 
life rather than others ; yet in respect to the elect 
themselves, their election is, in some sense, con- 
ditional ; because there is never an election to 
salvation which does not include a previous work 
of grace in the heart, and perseverance therein 
to the end of life. The execution of God's 



GRACE AND GLORY. 31 

purpose begins in grace, is carried on in holi- 
ness, and terminates in glory. These three 
links cannot be broken without destroying the 
sinner's hope of heaven. 

C. Your explanation of what you mean by 
predestination, presents this doctrine in a far 
different light from that in which I have been 
accustomed to view it. To a Confession of 
Faith like this, I could cordially subscribe. 
Will you now do me the favour to explain that 
part of the doctrine which is called reproba- 
tion ? This has prejudiced my mind more than 
election. 

M. The term Reprobation is not often em- 
ployed by Presbyterians ; not however because 
the word itself means any thing contrary to 
their belief; for it signifies, when properly de- 
fined, the act of disapproving. But they 
do not employ the term, because it is defined 
by the enemies of their doctrine very differ- 
ently from the meaning which they themselves 
attach to it. I will give you our views on this 
subject, by adverting to what you have al- 



32 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ready stated concerning your religious experi- 
ence. 

You have said that you were pursuing, not 
involuntarily, but willingly, the path to de- 
struction. God offered you a Saviour, but 
you did not receive him. You heard the gos- 
pel preached, but you did not yield obedience 
to its gracious, calls. Your conscience warned 
you, but you did not give heed to its warning 
voice. Divine providence admonished you, 
but you did not properly improve its salutary 
lessons. And above all, the Holy Spirit strove 
with you, but you refused to submit your 
heart to his merciful and gracious influences. 
You have said also that God would have 
treated you justly, if he had permitted you to 
continue in your chosen way till the end of 
life, and thus incur tha.t wrath which he has 
denounced against the finally impenitent. Or 
to express it more nearly in your own words, 
you are sensible that God was under no obli- 
gation to show you favour, that all which he 
has done for you is mere mercy, that your sins 
deserve his wrath, and that you could not 



GRACE AND GLORY. 33 

complain of injustice, if the penalty of God's 
law should be inflicted upon you. 

Now suppose you had been thus left, your 
condition would be the same as that of the 
finally lost. There is no positive decree con- 
cerning them^ except the general one, " The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die." They being 
sinners, and not complying with the terms of 
the gospel, (without which there can be no 
salvation,) fall of course under this sentence, 
and reap at last the reward of their iniquity. 
They are not sentenced to destruction after 
they repented, nor while they were repenting ; 
but because they would not repent. They are 
not driven from the cross, where they stand 
pleading for mercy ; for "him that cometh to 
Christ he will in no wise cast out;" but they 
perish because they are " enemies of the cross 
of Christ, whose end is destruction." In the 
language of the Presbyterian Confession of 
Faith, " they are passed by and ordained to 
dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the 
praise of God's glorious justice." 

By Reprobation then is meant, when the 



34 GRACE AND GLORY. 

term is employed by Presbyterians, God's 
permitting the wicked to remain in that sinful 
and ruined state into which they were brought 
by the fall, i. £., disapproved and condemned, 
or in other words, to pursue their own chosen 
way to perdition. If God had permitted you 
thus to perish, you are sensible that he would 
have done you no injustice, and so of all others 
who continue in the road to hell. You are 
conscious of having been under no constraint to 
continue in sin, except what was implied in your 
own guilt and folly ; that you sinned freely, 
and that if you had perished, your condemna- 
tion would have been owing to your impeni- 
tence and unbelief, and not to the Divine 
decree. 

Now if God permits any to perish in their 
sins, he must have known from eternity the 
persons who would fall under his everlasting 
displeasure. The doctrine of Reprobation may 
therefore be stated in the following proposi- 
tions. ( 1.) God had an eternal design or 
purpose to punish those who should persist in 
their sins. ( 2.) Some persons, notwithstand- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 35 

ing all the means of grace which he has pro- 
vided for them, of their own free choice, with- 
out compulsion from him, though by his fore- 
knowledge and permission, continue in sin to 
the end of life. ( 3.) Such persons, of course, 
fall under the penalty of God's law, and become 
the subjects of his eternal wrath ; not because 
he foresaw or decreed it, but because of their 
rebellion against his authority, and their 
neglect of the gospel salvation. 

All mankind in their fallen state are repro- 
bate, i. e. 9 disapproved and under the curse of 
God's holy law. It was in view of mankind 
as thus fallen and self-destroyed, that God 
formed the gospel plan. Upon some of them 
he determined, for wise reasons, though not 
revealed to us, to bestow pardon and salva- 
tion, while he left the remainder under the 
curse justly brought upon them by sin. The 
charge of partiality which is sometimes brought 
against this procedure, in that God determined 
to do more for some than for others, assumes that 
he made this difference in an arbitrary manner, 
and without good reasons. This assumption 



36 GRACE AND GLORY. 

is false, and hence the objection falls to the 
ground. With respect to mankind, God's gra- 
cious choice of some rather than others, was 
sovereign, because the moral characters of men 
by nature are alike, and hence no cause exists 
in the creature why one should be taken and 
another left. But to say that God had no 
reasons for this choice, would be supposing 
that he acts in a manner, in which intelligent 
beings never do act; to assert that his reasons 
were not sufficient, would be to impeach his 
infinite wisdom. Two criminals may be equally 
worthy of death, and yet there may be valid 
reasons why executive clemency should be ex- 
tended to one of them and not to the other ; 
why one should be pardoned and the other 
punished, and so in the Divine government. 
It ought to be sufficient for us to be assured 
that God formed his designs in relation to his 
creatures with the best conceivable reasons, 
though he has not revealed these reasons in 
his word. It may be, that, in a future state, 
what now seems mysterious in the dispensa- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 37 

tions of his mercy, will be clearly and satis- 
factorily unfolded to our view. 

At this point Mr. James told Henry he 
might pause ; but he desired him to read the 
remainder of the tract at his leisure, as it con- 
tained some counsels and Scripture proofs, 
which were important for him to consider. 
To read the whole now, said he, will protract 
unduly our present conversation. 

Henry James remarked, I am much en- 
lightened, father, by this tract, and I shall 
peruse the remainder with attention. Before 
you dismiss the tract, please tell me whether 
the conversation alluded to, had the effect to 
settle the mind of the young convert. 

THE EFFECT OF THAT CONVERSATION ON THE 
TWO BROTHERS. 

Mr. James replied, The young convert who 
engaged chiefly in that conversation, became 
soon afterwards, a communicant in the Pres- 
byterian church, and he has ever since been a 
consistent and useful professor of religion in 
the same denomination. For several years 
4 



38 GRACE AND GLORY. 

he was an active ruling elder in a large and 
intelligent city church. Some ten or twelve 
years after that conversation, I met him in 
New York, where he then resided, and he re- 
ferred with evident satisfaction to our first in- 
terview in the interior of Pennsylvania, and 
to the lasting benefit he had derived from our 
conversation at that time. I will also mention 
a circumstance of some interest concerning 
his brother; as it shows how strangely a per- 
son's mind may be warped on this subject by 
prejudice. It afforded us some amusement 
when we met. This brother, who came with 
him to see me, though a Presbyterian, had 
mingled much among Arminians, and for 
several years previous, had seldom attended a 
Presbyterian church. He joined at first in 
the conversation, and remarked that he dis- 
liked one expression, which he believed was 
in the Presbyterian Standards, viz., "Who 
worketh all things after the counsel of his own 
will;" which he thought should be altered so 
as to read, " After the counsel of his fore- 
knowledge." I requested him to read the first 



GRACE AND GLORY. 39 

chapter of Ephesians. When he came to the 
11th verse, and found the exact phraseology 
which he proposed to change, he was so much 
embarrassed that he remained a silent listener 
most of the time afterwards, and appeared to 
derive as much benefit from the conversation 
as his brother. 

DIVINE FOREKNOWLEDGE INVOLVES PREDESTI- 
NATION — ANECDOTE. 

Few persons, if any, continued Mr. James, 
deny God's foreknowledge ; and yet the ad- 
mission of this is a virtual acknowledgment 
of the doctrine of predestination. Mr. Bonar 
once related the following dialogue, involving 
this argument : 

"I hope you will not be offended," said a 
gentleman, u if I declare, I do not, I cannot 
believe in the doctrine of Predestination. " 

"And I hope," rejoined Mr. C, "that you 
will not be offended if I declare, I am quite 
of opinion you do believe in it." 

"I beg, sir," said the other, "you will ex- 
plain yourself." 



40 GRACE AND GLORY. 

" If you will favour me with the short an- 
swers of yes, or no, to a few questions,' ' re- 
plied Mr. C, " I have little doubt I can prove 
what I have affirmed. " 

"It will afford me satisfaction, " said the 
other, "to comply with your request. ,, * 

Mr. C. then began : " Are you of opinion 
that all sinners will be saved?" 

"By no means," said the gentleman. 

"But you have no doubt," added Mr. C, 
" that it will be formally determined, at the 
day of judgment, who are to be saved, and 
who are to perish." 

" Of that I have no doubts," replied the 
stranger. 

"And is the great God," continued Mr. C, 
"under any necessity of waiting till the last 
awful assizes, in order to know who are the 
righteous, to be saved, and the wicked, that 
are to perish?" 

"By no means," said the other, "for he 
knows already." 

"When do you suppose," asked Mr. C, 
" that he first knew this ?" 



GRACE AND GLORY. 41 

Here the gentleman paused a little, but 
soon answered, "He must have known from 
all eternity." 

"Then it must have been fixed from all 
eternity, " said Mr. C. 

"That by no means follows," replied the 
other. 

"Then it follows," added Mr. C, "that he 
did not know, but only guessed, and happened 
to guess right; for how can even Omniscience 
KNOW what is yet uncertain V 9 

Here the stranger began to perceive his 
difficulty, and after a short debate, confessed, 
it must have been fixed from eternity. 

"Now one question more," said Mr. C, 
" will prove that you believe in Predestination, 
as well as I. You have acknowledged, what 
can never be disproved, that God could not 
know from eternity who shall be saved, unless 
it had been fixed from eternity. If, then, it 
was fixed, be pleased, sir, to inform me, who 
fixed it?" 

The gentleman candidly acknowledged he 
had never taken this view before; and said 
4* 



42 GRACE AND GLORY. 

he believed it was the last time he should at- 
tempt to oppose Predestination to eternal 
life. 

TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

Mr. James remarked further, Many object 
to Predestination, because, like the young con- 
vert referred to in this tract, they entertain 
erroneous views concerning its nature. In 
such cases the best reply to their objections is 
a simple statement of the doctrine as held by 
its advocates. For instance, a common objec- 
tion is that Predestination destroys man's free 
agency, renders second causes of no avail, and 
hence discourages the use of means. This is 
founded on a mistaken notion of what Predes- 
tination is, as believed by Presbyterians. On 
the subject of God's Eternal Decree, which in- 
cludes Predestination, our Confession of Faith 
reads thus; "God from all eternity did by 
the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, 
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever 
comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is 
God the author of sin ; nor is violence offered 
to the will of the creatures ; nor is the liberty 



GRACE AND GLORY. 43 

or contingency of second causes taken away, 
but rather established.' ' If, therefore, any 
imagine that Predestination makes man a ma- 
chine, &c, it is evident from the language of 
our Confession, that this doctrine, as it lies in 
their minds, is the opposite of that which is 
maintained by the Presbyterian church. In 
a similar way may be answered the vulgar 
objection, " If I am to be saved, I shall be 
saved, do what I will; and if I am to be 
damned, I shall be damned, do what I can." 
The Bible doctrine, as understood by Pres- 
byterians, is utterly inconsistent with this view 
of the matter, and it needs only to be stated 
correctly, in order to refute this gross carica- 
ture of a precious gospel truth. 

THE MOST SERIOUS DIFFICULTY ORIGINATES 
IN THE HEART. 

But the greatest objection of all is one of the 
heart and not of the intellect ; and the mode of 
relief is not argument, or explanations, or even 
Scripture proofs, but the saving illumination of 
the Holy Spirit. I speak from former expe- 



44 GRACE AND GLORY. 

rience. Though I perceived the doctrine must be 
true, if the Bible is true ; that it must be true, 
if reason is not utterly at fault concerning the 
character and government of God, and his in- 
finite supremacy over his creatures ; yet I 
disliked the doctrine, and rebelled against it 
in my heart. Why ? Because my heart was 
not reconciled to God, and therefore I could 
not rejoice in his reign. A person must be a 
Christian, in order to be a happy Predestina- 
tarian. As a coloured man said of Dr. Bel- 
lamy, " That his preaching made God appear 
so big ;" Predestination makes God so great, 
and the creature so small, that the proud and 
unrenewed heart is uncomfortable and rebel- 
lious at this view of the case. It was so with 
me ; but when I became willing, through Di- 
vine grace, to humble myself in the dust, and 
could rejoice in the Lord as the supreme and 
rightful Governor of the world, my hostility 
to this doctrine ceased, and most of my diffi- 
culties concerning it were removed. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 45 

PREDESTINATION A GREAT MERCY. 

Mr. James remarked again, Predestination 
is a great mercy, and is so regarded by those 
who understand it correctly, and whose hearts 
are right with God. Either all men will be 
saved, or all men will be lost, or a part only 
will be saved. If a part will be saved and not 
all, those who are saved either save them- 
selves, or they are saved by Divine grace. If 
God is the author of their salvation, he must 
have purposed to save them, and this purpose 
was a merciful and gracious purpose, which is 
the scriptural import of Predestination. In 
this view of the case, either Predestination is 
true, or all men will be eternally lost. Pre- 
destination is, therefore, one of the distinguish- 
ing mercies of God. 

PREDESTINATION A CAUSE FOR THANKSGIV- 
ING. 

Again, Predestination is one of those forms 
in which Jehovah exercises his rightful and 
holy sovereignty over his creatures ; in view 



46 GRACE AND GLORY. 

of which Jesus Christ rejoiced, and gave thanks 
to God. " Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, 
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the 
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
unto babes : even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in thy sight." Luke x. 21. Those, 
therefore, who deny this doctrine, are not in 
sympathy with the views and feelings of our 
Divine Lord. Who is right, Jesus Christ, or 
these objectors ? 

Be assured, my son, that all those whose 
feelings are truly pious and devout, cordially 
acquiesce in this doctrine, if rightly understood, 
even when they might be startled at the word 
Predestination. Where is the genuine Christ- 
ian who does not adopt with a grateful heart, 
that sweet hymn, commencing with the verse, 

il Hail, sovereign love, that first began 
The scheme to rescue fallen man ; 
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace, 
That gave my soul a hiding-place V 

Or that other delightful hymn, so often sung 
by thousands, beginning with the words, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 47 

* Grace ! Tis a charming sound 
Harmonious to mine ear : 
Heaven with the echo shall resound , 
And all the earth shall hear ?" 

Those two hymns contain all the Predestina- 
tion which I preach or believe, and all which 
is taught in the Standards of the Presbyterian 
Church. In other words, they teach it clearly, 
fully, and comprehensively ; I say compre- 
hensively. This is worthy of special notice. 
The Predestination contained in those hymns 
includes ( what a devotional contemplation of 
the subject always should) not simply the Di- 
vine purpose itself, but the whole series of 
mercies flowing from it in our redemption by 
Jesus Christ. In a strictly theological dis- 
cussion, the purpose alone would be considered ; 
but in its devout contemplation, as in those 
hymns, it is viewed like the river of Eden, 
which as it issued forth, " was parted and be- 
came into four heads,' ' and these were the 
sources of other rivers, whose waters conveyed 
far and wide the choice properties contained 
in the original fountain. Thus, also, the doc- 



48 GRACE AND GLORY. 

trine of Predestination, as stated in our Con- 
fession of Faith, is equally comprehensive. 
In the same sentence where it teaches God's 
purpose to save sinners, it asserts that he has 
also " fore-ordained all the means thereunto. , ' 
His purpose of salvation is like the river of 
Eden; "the means thereunto' ' resemble the 
other rivers which proceed from it. If then 
those hymns express your sentiments, your 
creed is Calvinistic ; and, if they accord with 
your inward feelings, if they rejoice your 
heart, your belief is far better than a theoret- 
ical conviction ; it is an experimental, a saving 
faith. A sound creed is important, but it is 
not sufficient to save the soul, without a spirit- 
ual change. Where this change has been ex- 
perienced, the doctrines of grace are not only 
assented to, but rejoiced in, as a theme of de- 
vout praise to God. The saints in glory owe 
their bliss to the practical results of these doc- 
trines, and they continually acknowledge this 
in anthems of praise and thanksgiving. And 
why should not we rejoice and praise God in 
like manner ? 



GRACE AND GLORY. 49 

11 Life, like a fountain rich and free, 

Springs from the presence of our Lord ; 
And in his light, our souls shall see 
The glories promised in his word." 

THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY OF PREDESTINA- 
TION — CONVERSION OF CAPT. WILSON. 

Mr. James now placed in Henry's hand a 
small volume, published by the Presbyterian 
Board of Publication, entitled Life of Capt. 
James Wilson, which he desired him to per- 
use ; adding, I have marked a few pages of 
the book for you to read to me, as a suitable 
close to our present conversation. Capt. 
Wilson's religious experience is a remarkable 
instance of the effect of the doctrine of Pre- 
destination, when preached in a Scriptural 
manner, to bring the unconverted to a serious 
concern about their souls, and to make them, 
when converted, humble, devout, and zealous 
Christians. The following is the substance 
of what Henry then read. 

Capt. James Wilson was an Englishman. 
After residing for a considerable time in the 
East Indies, and passing through many thrill- 
5 



50 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ing scenes, he returned to England, and settled 
in Horndean, Hampshire. In religion he was 
a sceptic. His conversion from infidelity, his 
conviction for sin, his joyful hope in the Re- 
deemer, and his devoted Christian life, were 
owing, under God, to a sermon on pre- 
destination, preached by the Rev. John 
Griffin, a Calvinistic minister of Portsea. 
Capt. Wilson had seldom attended preaching. 
Having spent part of a day in conversation 
with Mr. Griffin, on the evidences of Christ- 
ianity, and being pleased with his courteous 
and gentlemanly demeanour, he was induced, 
on the succeeding Sabbath, to attend Mr. 
Griffin's ministry. Mr. Griffin's text in course 
(he was preaching a series of sermons on the 
same chapter) was Rom. viii. 29. "Whom 
he did foreknow, them he also did predestinate 
to be conformed to the image of his Son." 
The outlines of the sermon (which are given 
in this volume) show that it was a full and 
Scriptural exhibition of this high gospel mys- 
tery. Capt. James Wilson listened to the 
sermon with fixed attention. It drew tears 



GRACE AND GLORY. 51 

from those eyes which had seldom wept before. 
The sentiments of the discourse produced a 
conflict of feelings in his breast. His memory, 
reason, conscience, imagination, and passions, 
were all in agitation. His prejudices for and 
against the doctrine, his hopes and fears, his 
love and hatred, his pleasures and disgusts, 
raised a storm in his soul, resembling the 
concussion of the elements in a hurricane ! 
While his heart rose in hatred against the 
sovereignty of God, the events of his whole 
life appeared before him as incontrovertible 
evidences of its truth. The painful remem- 
brance of former sins, and the fearful appre- 
hension of futurity, recurred to aggravate this 
internal conflict. He observed to his niece 
on their way home, " If what I have heard to 
day be true, I am a lost man." During the 
week following he was exceedingly pensive 
and thoughtful. The Bible and religious 
books formed his constant and almost only 
companions. He seemed wholly absorbed in 
the inquiry, " What shall I do to be saved ?" 
The two succeeding Sabbaths he attended 



52 GRACE AND GL0KY. 

Mr. Griffin's preaching; and the discourses 
were a continuation of the same discussion, in 
its relation to the image of Christ, contem- 
plated in Predestination, to effectual calling, 
which describes the way in which this image 
is produced in the soul, and to justification, 
showing the method of a sinner's acceptance 
with God. Capt. Wilson's former convic- 
tions were deepened; sin appeared exceed- 
ingly sinful, his judgment perceived the fitness, 
and his conscience felt the force of truth ; he 
saw that Christ was the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth ; and 
that the promise of God to accept the penitent 
and believing sinner is the ground or warrant 
of faith. 

In a few weeks the load of guilt which had 
pressed on his spirits was removed, and the 
gloomy apprehensions which had tormented 
his mind concerning a future state were dis- 
pelled. The horrors of the night were turned 
into the joy of the morning. He now under- 
stood what it was to be translated from dark- 
ness into marvellous light. His countenance 



GRACE AND GLORY. 53 

which before had indicated the anxious thought- 
fulness and desponding apprehensions of his 
grief- worn spirit, now brightened with cheer- 
fulness, while a radiance of ardent love and 
gratitude seemed to sparkle in his eye. 

Capt. Wilson had served his country faith- 
fully before his conversion. Now he de- 
sired to serve Christ with at least equal zeal. 
The London Missionary Society having been 
just organized, and having resolved to send 
missionaries to the South Sea Islands, (the 
first missionaries to the heathen in modern 
times,) Capt. James Wilson volunteered his 
services as the commander of the ship, w r hich 
it was determined to purchase and fit out for 
this express purpose. His offer was grate- 
fully accepted by the Directors, and the service 
performed in a successful and satisfactory 
manner. The ship, which was called the Duff, 
sailed from London in 1796. 

Capt. Wilson's religious feelings, after he 

■went on board the vessel, are expressed in 

the following extract of a letter to his spiritual 

father, Mr. Griflin. "Praise be to God for 

5* 



54 GRACE AND GLORY. 

all his mercies. Were it not for the many 
precious promises, I know not what I should 
do; for it is really hard parting from all those 
we fondly love, and entering into a sea of 
trouble and perplexity. I look back on my 
past life with pain, to my pilgrimage I look 
with fear and trembling; but to that state 
where we shall all meet, and every tear be 
wiped from our eyes, I look with a pleasing 
hope, that I shall be one of that happy number 
that God in his great mercy has chosen. This 
cheers my drooping spirits, and causes me to 
press onward to the prize, forgetting the past 
and the present, and looking only to the future 
for real happiness.' * 

After reading this narrative, Henry ex- 
claimed, What a remarkable Christian expe- 
rience ! and what a happy illustration of the 
truth and power of the doctrine of Predestina- 
tion ! I think I shall love this doctrine here- 
after, whatever may have been my former 
feelings concerning it. I find that, when cor- 
rectly explained and understood, it is truly a 
great mercy, and indeed the fountain of all 



GRACE AND GLORY. 55 

other mercies. Mr. James assented, and then 
called the family together for worship, select- 
ing that appropriate hymn, (a favourite of all 
the family,) which commences with the verse, 

" Come, thou fount of every blessing, 
Tune my heart to sing thy grace ; 
Streams of mercy never ceasing, 
Call for songs of loudest praise." 



56 GRACE AND GLORY. 



CONVERSATION II. 

REGENERATION, OR GRACE IMPLANTED IN THE 
HEART, AND MANIFESTED IN CONVERSION. 

On the following Sabbath evening, Henry 
James said to his father, The question has 
often occurred to me during the past week, 
why, in mentioning the doctrines of grace, some 
three months ago, and in the conversations 
which followed, you named Predestination 
last; though God's purpose to save sinners 
was from eternity, and seems, therefore, to be 
properly the first topic of conversation. Please 
tell me, father, what made you consider those 
doctrines in that particular order ; viz., 
Christ's Mediatorial work on earth, Justifica- 
tion by Faith, Dependence on the Holy Spirit, 
Sanctification, Good Works, Perseverance of 
the Saints, and then Predestination.* 

* See The Gospel Fountain, or The Anxious Youth 



GRACE AND GLORY. 57 

Mr. James replied, I placed Predestina- 
tion after the others, because I thought you 
would understand it better, when we had dis- 
cussed the other doctrines named, especially if, 
by the Divine blessing on those conversations, 
you should be brought to the saving knowledge 
of Christ. I have heard of a pious negro at 
the South, who exhibited so much good sense, 
and such an experimental acquaintance with the 
Bible, that white persons in the neighbourhood 
sometimes sought opportunities to converse with 
him on the subject of religion. A gentleman 
anxious for his soul, called to see the negro, 
who among other counsels, advised him to read 
the New Testament through by course, com- 
mencing with Matthew. In a day or two he 
called again, and told the coloured man he 
had found much difficulty in understanding 
the doctrine of Predestination. 

Where did you find it ? said the negro. 

In Romans, replied the gentleman. 

Ah ! said the negro ; you have begun to 

made Happy ; published by The Presbyterian Board of 
Publication — to which volume the present i3 a Sequel. 



58 GRACE AND GLORY. 

read in the wrong place. If you had begun 
at Matthew, you would have found, " Repent, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ' ' Please 
go back, massa, and begin there. When you 
have settled that matter, you will be able to 
understand the doctrine of Predestination 
much better than you can now.* 

The course which I took in those conversa- 
tions, continued Mr. James, seemed to me the 
best method to prepare the way for you to 
understand and appreciate the high mystery 
of Predestination. I did not, however, in that 
series, discuss fully a number of doctrines 
which belong to the system of gospel grace ; but 
only alluded to them incidentally, as being in- 
volved in those doctrines which I discussed. 
For instance, in remarking on the work of the 
Holy Spirit, the doctrine of effectual calling, 
or regeneration, was briefly explained ; and in 
defining faith, repentance was mentioned as 
being necessarily implied in saving faith. Re- 
pentance was also alluded to in my remarks 
on Sanctification. In our conversation on 

* See The African Preacher, published by the Board. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 59 

Perseverance, Adoption was named as one 
proof of it, and its nature was defined in a 
few words. But these doctrines and one or 
two others demand a more particular consid- 
eration. If you would like to converse further 
on these topics, Henry, it will afford me plea- 
sure to occupy a few evenings in endeavouring 
to explain these great Bible truths. 

I am glad, father, said Henry James, to 
hear you make this proposal. There is no 
kind of knowledge which I am so anxious to 
acquire as the knowledge of God's word. 

Mr. James remarked, I will spend an hour 
this evening in discoursing on the subject of 
Regeneration. 

This topic is the very one, said Henry, con- 
cerning which I have been meditating to-day. 
My thoughts were turned to it by reading our 
Lord's conversation with Nicodemus, in the 
third chapter of John. 

Mr. James requested Henry to read again 
the first ten verses of that chapter. Henry 
read as follows : " There was a man of the 
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 



60 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and 
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
teacher come from God ; for no man can do 
these miracles that thou doest, except God be 
with him. Jesus answered, and said to him, 
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a 
man be born when he is old ? can he enter the 
second time into his mother's womb, and be 
born ? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, 1 say 
unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and 
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of God. That ^hich is born of the flesh, is 
flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit, is 
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye 
must be born again. The wind bloweth where 
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said 
unto him, How can these things be ? Jesus 
answered and said unto him, Art thou a master 
of Israel, and knowest not these things V 



GRACE AND GLORY. 61 

Mr. James remarked, This conversation of 
our Lord with Nicodemus, contains three prin- 
cipal points of instruction ; viz., the necessity 
of Regeneration, its nature, and how it is 
manifested. 

THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 

The necessity of Regeneration is taught in the 
words, " Except a man be born again, he cannot 
see the kingdom of God." Again, " Except 
a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
Again, " Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye 
must be born again.' ' Here you see that 
Christ asserted three times in succession, the 
necessity of being born again, in order to 
our being admitted into the kingdom of God. 
He does not say, A man may not see, or he 
may not enter the kingdom of God except he 
be born again, but he cannot. And further, 
he does not say, Ye ought to be born again, 
but ye must be, t. e., there is a necessity for 
this change. 

Henry. Please, father, explain what is 
6 



62 GRACE AND GLORY. 

meant by "the kingdom of God," referred to 
by our Lord. 

Mr. James replied, The phrase, the kingdom 
of God, or the kingdom of heaven, sometimes 
means the gospel dispensation, as distinguished 
from that of the Old Testament ; and at others, 
the heavenly state, or world of glory, for 
which Christ's ministry and sacrifice on earth 
were designed to prepare men. Whether one 
or the other is intended in a particular passage, 
must be determined by the connection in which 
this phrase occurs. In this place it means 
the heavenly state, or world of glory, as is 
evident from the words immediately succeed- 
ing those which you read. Tou may read a 
few verses more. 

Henry read as follows: "Verily, verily, I 
say unto thee, We speak that we do know, 
and testify that we have seen, and ye receive 
not our witness. If I have told you earthly 
things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, 
if I tell you of heavenly things ? And no man 
hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came 
down from heaven, even the Son of man which 



GRACE AND GLORY. 63 

is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever be- 
lieve th in him should not perish, but have 
eternal life. For God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 

Mr. James, continued, These words ob- 
viously relate to eternal life in heaven ; and as 
they were spoken in order to explain and 
amplify what Christ had previously said, he 
must have referred to the same thing in both 
parts of his discourse; otherwise the latter 
part would have been no explanation of the 
former. Hence the phrase, "the kingdom of 
God," must mean the same as was meant in 
the immediate connection, by the phrase, 
"eternal" or " everlasting life." What there- 
fore our Lord said to Nicodemus, was as much 
as to say, Except a man be born again, he 
cannot go to heaven. 

Henry. Why, father, is regeneration neces- 
sary? 



64 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Mr. James replied, The necessity of regen- 
eration arises from the depravity of our moral 
nature, on account of which we are unfit for a 
holy heaven, until we are born again. The 
divine testimony concerning the human race 
before the flood was as follows: "The earth 
also was corrupt before God, and the earth 
was filled with violence. And God looked 
upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt : for 
all flesh had corrupted his way upon the 
earth." Gen. vi. 11, 12. David applies 
this description to mankind in his day. See 
Ps. xiv. 2, 3, and liii. 2, 3. "The Lord 
looked down from heaven upon the children 
of men, to see if there were any that did un- 
derstand, and seek God. They are all gone 
aside, they are all together become filthy: 
there is none that doeth good, no, not one." 
Paul alludes to the same record, and asserts 
that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. 
"As it is written, There is none righteous, 
no, not one. There is none that understand- 
eth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
They are all gone out of the way, they are 



GRACE AND GLORY. 65 

together become unprofitable; there is none 
that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat 
is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they 
have used deceit; the poison of asps is under 
their lips ; whose mouth is full of cursing and 
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. 
Destruction and misery are in their ways. 
And the way of peace have they not known. 
There is no fear of God before their eyes." 
Rom. iii. 10 — 18. What a place would heaven 
be, if such persons as these should be admitted 
to it without a change in their characters ! 

THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION ILLUS- 
TRATED. 

I have read of a preacher, I think it was 
the celebrated George Whitefield, who in order 
to show how necessary it is for sinners to ex- 
perience a thorough change of character be- 
fore they could enter heaven, and the absurdity 
of the opposite opinion, supposed the case of 
a thief, w r ho with his thievish disposition should 
find his way into that world. What, said he, 
would he do there ? He would embrace the 
6* 



66 GRACE AND GLORY. 

first opportunity which might be offered, to 
steal the golden vessels which contain the new 
wine of the kingdom. 

It is very clear, said Henry James, that 
such wicked characters as are described in the 
texts of Scripture which you have quoted, 
must undergo a great change, before they are 
fit for heaven. But does this necessity extend 
to those who are moral and upright in their 
conduct ? 

Mr. James replied, Though all men are not 
so grossly wicked as some are, all have wicked 
hearts, and these must experience a radical 
change before they can enjoy the holy society 
and employments of heaven. The Bible says, 
that a the heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked/ ' Depraved human 
nature is the same every where, and except 
for restraining grace, it would show itself in 
overt acts of wickedness. 

A gentleman was once extolling the virtue 
of honesty. " Sir," replied his friend, " how- 
ever excellent the virtue of honesty may be, I 
fear there are few men in the world that really 



GRACE AND GLORY. 67 

possess it." "You surprise me," said the 
gentleman. His friend responded, " Though 
I know nothing against your character, sir, I 
presume it would be no difficult matter to 
prove even you a dishonest man." U I defy 
you," said he. "Will you give me leave, 
then," rejoined his friend, "to ask you a 
question or two, and promise not to be of- 
fended?" "Ask your questions and wel- 
come." "Have you never met with an op- 
portunity of getting gain by unfair means?" 
The gentleman paused. "I don't ask," said 
his friend, "whether you have taken advantage 
of such an opportunity? but, have you ever 
met with such an opportunity ? I myself have, 
and I believe every body else has." The 
gentleman then said, " Very probably I may." 
"How," said his friend, "did you feel your 
mind affected on such an occasion ? Had you 
no secret desire, no inclination whatever, to 
seize the advantage which offered ?" "I 
must acknowledge/' said the gentleman, "I 
have not always been absolutely free from 
every irregular inclination; but — " "Hold, 



68 GRACE AND GLORY. 

sir/' said his friend, "none of your salvos; 
you have confessed enough. If you had the 
desire, though you never proceeded to the 
act, you were dishonest in heart. This is 
what the Scriptures call concupiscence. It 
defiles the soul. It is a breach of the law 
which requires truth in the inward parts ; 
and unless you are pardoned by the blood of 
Christ, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, 
it will be a just ground of your condemnation, 
and exclusion from heaven, w T hen i God shall 
judge the secrets of men' in the last day." 

Sinners, this solemn truth regard ; 

Hear, all ye sons of men ; 
For Christ, the Saviour, hath declared, 

" Ye must be born again." 

Whate'er might be your birth or blood ; 

The sinner's boast is vain ; 
Thus saith the glorious Son of God, 

" Ye must be born again." 

Our nature's totally depraved ; 

The heart a sink of sin ; 
Without a change we can't be saved ; 

We must be born again. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 69 

Those who hold that human nature is not 
depraved, (e. g., the Unitarians,) talk about 
Regeneration ; but they explain it as consist- 
ing, not in a radical change, but only a devel- 
opment of our religious feelings, which they 
maintain are feeble in infancy, and must be 
expanded by proper culture. One of them 
(Mr. Peabody) has illustrated this develop- 
ment by the change of a caterpillar into a 
butterfly. The caterpillar has in its body un- 
formed wings, and the butterfly's body is 
still substantially the body of a caterpillar, 
though now its wings have become the more 
prominent part. It is sufficient to say con- 
cerning this illustration, that it is founded 
on a false assumption concerning human na- 
ture, an assumption which is contrary both to 
Scripture and experience. In order to obtain 
a just conception of the nature of Regenera- 
tion, we must embrace scriptural sentiments 
concerning the deep moral corruption brought 
upon us by the fall. We must be convinced 
of the sinfulness of the heart, which is 



70 GRACE AND GLORY. 

the polluted source of all outward transgres- 
sions. 

THE NATURE OF REGENERATION. 

Henry James inquired, What, father, is the 
nature of the change denoted by being born 
again ? 

The change is described, said Mr. James, in 
these words ; " Except a man be born of water 
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God. That which is born of the 
flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit." 

1. This change relates to the soul, not to 
the body. That which is born in the sense 
of the term Regeneration, is " the spirit," L e., 
our spiritual nature, and of course the change 
must be a spiritual change. 

2. The change thus wrought is produced 
by the Holy Spirit, and hence those who ex- 
perience it are described as being born of the 
Spirit, and elsewhere as being born of God. 
" Which were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but 
of God." John i. 13. It consists in the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 71 

implantation of a gracious or holy principle 
in the soul, as the germ of a new and spiritual 
life. 

Henry. I have heard it said, father, that 
baptism is Regeneration ; and a part of the 
passage just quoted, viz., being born of water, 
is one of the texts brought to prove it. 

Yes, said Mr. James, and there is one or 
two others relied upon by some for the same 
purpose. "Arise, and be baptized, and wash 
away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
Lord," Acts xxii. 16. " Not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but accord- 
ing to his mercy he saved us, by the washing 
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 
Grhost." Titus iii. 5. But none of these pas- 
sages prove that baptism is Regeneration. It 
is not certain that they all refer to the ordin- 
ance of baptism ; but supposing them to have 
this reference, then they mean no more than 
that baptism by water is significant of the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit, who alone has 
power to regenerate the depraved soul. If 
baptism were regeneration, then Simon Magus 



72 GRACE AND GLORY. 

*as regenerated ; which, however, was not the 
case. Soon after he had been baptized, 
Peter told him that he was " in the gall of bit- 
terness, and in the bond of iniquity. ' ' Acts yiii. 
23. The same apostle declares that baptism 
is " not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, 
but the answer of a good conscience toward 
God." 1 Peter iii. 21. If baptism is the an- 
swer of a good conscience toward God, then 
a good conscience precedes baptism, and is not 
produced by it. The evil conscience, which 
is a part of our evil and depraved moral na- 
ture, is first renewed by Divine grace, and in 
answer to the desires of a conscience thus re- 
newed, and made spiritually good, baptism is 
administered as a sign and seal of our being 
engrafted into Christ. 

Those who hold to baptismal regeneration, 
continued Mr. James, commit a similar mistake 
with that of Nicodemus, who after his first 
error, of supposing it to be a new physical 
birth, was corrected, still seemed not to compre- 
hend our Lord's meaning, and inquired with 
wonder, "How can these things be?" Christ 



GRACE AND GLORY. 73 

said to him, Art thou a master of Israel, 
and knowest not these things?" This ques- 
tion implies that if Nicodemus had under- 
stood what was signified by the religious 
use of water in the Mosaic ritual, he would 
have comprehended our Lord's language con- 
cerning the nature of regeneration. The 
washing of water under that dispensation was 
only a sign of spiritual cleansing, in which the 
Holy Spirit was the efficient agent. This was 
understood by those who were truly enlight- 
ened. Hence in the same prayer in which 
David says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I 
shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter 
than snow;" he prays also, " Create in me a 
clean heart, God ; and renew a right spirit 
within me. Cast me not away from thy pre- 
sence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and 
uphold me with thy free spirit." David here 
alluded to the sacred washings, in a similar 
sense to the allusions made in the New Testa- 
ment to the water of baptism, viz., as symbol- 
ical of the grace of the Holy Spirit, whose 
7 



74 GRACE AND GLORY. 

presence he immediately implored. So when 
Christ says, " Except a man be born of water, 
and of the spirit," he teaches, under the figure 
of water, the same truth which is taught with- 
out a figure by the term "spirit." The latter 
word is therefore explanatory of the former. 

Henry remarked again, I have heard some 
persons say, father, that if men break off from 
gross sins, and live what is commonly called 
a virtuous life, no other regeneration is re- 
quired. 

Mr. James replied, A thorough reformation 
will always follow regeneration ; but if regen- 
eration consisted in this, then no change at 
all would be necessary in the case of those 
who are already moral in their conduct. But 
the most upright men in the world, if they 
have not the grace of God in their hearts, are 
not qualified for heaven. "The carnal mind 
is enmity against God." Now, how can per- 
sons with such a mind as this be happy in 
heaven, where God's name is continually 
praised and adored ? This enmity must be 
subdued, the heart must be reconciled to God, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 75 

and lie must be loved and venerated ; otherwise 
heaven will possess no attractions. 

A gentleman not long ago remarked to 
another, (both are moral men,) If it were not 
for you and me, there would be no conversa- 
tion at our table, except about preaching, 
prayer-meetings, &c. At the same house, 
only a few days previous to the above remark, 
an interesting girl, daughter of a pious mother, 
who was present, appeared at the table for the 
first time, after an illness of several weeks. 
A clergyman present congratulated her on 
her recovery, and expressed a hope, in few 
words, that she would devote her life to the 
service of Him who had been so kind to her. 
Instead of receiving the advice seriously, she 
smiled ; and a young lady on the opposite side 
of the table, the daughter of another pious 
lady, sitting near her, was so affected with 
laughter, that she rose from the table, and 
left the room. Now do you think that persons 
in this state of mind, however moral or amiable 
they may be, could relish the holy employments 
of the heavenly world? Certainly not. I 



76 GRACE AND GLORY. 

may therefore apply the words of our Lord 
to all men in their natural state, no matter 
how virtuous externally, "Marvel not that I 
said unto thee, Ye must be born again." The 
change required is inward and spiritual — a 
change of heart — a change in the disposition, 
in the character, in the affections of the soul. 
Nothing short of this can restore the moral 
image of God, which was lost by the fall, and 
qualify us to enjoy him for ever. And no 
power less than divine can effect this change. 

The sovereign will of God alone 

Creates us heirs of grace ; 
Bom in the image of his Son, 

A new, peculiar race. 

The Spirit, like some heavenly wind, 

Blows on the sons of flesh, 
New models all the carnal mind, 

And forms the man afresh. 

Our quickened souls awake and rise 
From the long sleep of death ; 

On heavenly things we fix our eyes, 
And praise employs our breath. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 77 



REGENERATION IS MANIFESTED IN CONVER- 
SION. 

Henry James asked his father, What is tfoe 
difference between Regeneration and Conver- 
sion ? 

Mr. James replied, The one includes the 
other ; but, in the order of nature, Regenera- 
tion precedes Conversion. Regeneration is 
grace implanted in the heart; Conversion is 
grace manifested in the emotions and charac- 
ter. Regeneration is the principle of spiritual 
life ; Conversion is the operation of that prin- 
ciple in vital acts, indicating the reality of the 
life within. Regeneration is the production 
of a disposition to turn from sin unto God ; 
Conversion is the actual turning of the soul to 
him. In a word, Regeneration is the ante- 
cedent ; Conversion is the consequent. Hence 
Conversion is the fruit and evidence of Regen- 
eration. This is indicated by the words of our 
Lord to Nicodemus, " The wind bloweth where 
it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and 



78 GRACE AND GLORY. 

whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of 
the Spirit." By this he means that the reality 
of Regeneration is known by its effects, just 
as the presence of the wind is known by the 
sound which it makes in passing by us. To 
the same purport are the words of Paul : " If 
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, 
old things are passed away ; behold all things 
are become new." Here the new creature, or 
the new creation as it might be rendered, is 
the same as Regeneration ; and old things 
passing away and all things becoming new, 
express the same idea essentially as is meant 
by Conversion. 

There is the same necessity then, father, 
said Henry, for Conversion as for Regenera- 
tion. 

To be sure, said Mr. James, and as the ne- 
cessity of Regeneration extends to all, so also 
of Conversion. Indeed there is a sense in 
which regenerated persons sometimes need 
conversion. See Matt, xviii. 3. But in the 
sense now intended, the two are simultaneous, 
and must be experienced by every sinner in 



GRACE AND GLORY. 79 

order to his being saved. The reason has 
already been given. Unconverted persons do 
not love God, and consequently are not pre- 
pared to meet him in peace. 

CONVERSION OF A YOUNG LADY. 

A good illustration of this point, said Mr. 
James, is contained in a volume of religious 
anecdotes which lies before me. Henry took 
the book and read as follows : Miranda N., 
says a Christian Minister, was about eighteen 
years of age, much distinguished for personal 
beauty, but more for uncommon sweetness of 
disposition, and great amiableness of deport- 
ment. There was not, probably, among all 
the people of my charge, one whose case would 
have been more promptly cited, and perhaps 
none so effectively, to disprove the doctrine 
of the entire sinfulness of the unregenerate 
heart. She was deservedly a general favour- 
ite. She seemed to entertain the kindest af- 
fection towards all, and every one who knew 
her loved her. One evening at an inquiry 
meeting, held at my house, I noticed in a full 



80 GRACE AND GLORY. 

room, a female in great apparent distress. 
The disturbance she made by her loud sobs, 
and frequent and painful interruption of the 
silence of the room, induced me to pass by 
others, and go to her at once. On coming to 
her seat, I was not a little surprised to find 
myself by the side of Miranda. The first in- 
quiry 1 put to her was this, "What has brought 
you here, M. ?" With emphasis she replied, 
" My sins, sir." With a view to test the reality 
and depth of her convictions, I then said, 
" But what have you done which makes either 
your heart or your life appear so heinously 
sinful ?" At this second question she broke 
out in a voice that reached the extreme part 
of the room, and thrilled through every heart, 
for she was known and loved by every person 
there, — " I hate God, and I know it. I hate 
my own being. Oh that I had never been 
born !" As she uttered this acknowledgment, 
she rose and left the room in irrepressible agony. 
Deeply as I was interested in her case, I could 
not follow her, and leave the many with whom 
I had yet to converse; but conducted her 




She dropped the book and exclaimed, " I have found 

the Saviour." ra fe e ° 



GRACE AND GLORY. 81 

across the hall into the opposite room, where 
Mrs. S. was employed in attendance upon a 
sick child. The remainder of the narrative I 
received from Mrs. S. 

After a little conversation, as I was in- 
formed, between Mrs. S. and Miranda, who 
was walking the room in great distress, her eye 
lighted upon a copy of the Village Hymns, 
which lay upon the sideboard. She eagerly 
caught it up, and read, at the first page 
which she opened, these words ; 

" There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains. " 

As she finished this verse, she dropped the 
book and exclaimed, " I have found my Sav- 
iour. This is the Saviour I need. pre- 
cious Saviour !" and many other expressions 
of the same kind. Her enmity to God was 
gone ; her burden was removed ; Christ was 
all in all to her. 



82 GRACE AND GLORY. 

EVIDENCES OF CONVERSION. 

The experience of this young lady, said 
Mr. James, furnishes at least two evidences 
of genuine conversion, viz., her faith and love. 
Her exclamation, "I have found my Saviour, 
&c," expressed her faith in him; and as might 
be inferred from this, it is further stated that 
"her enmity to God was gone." The first 
act of a truly converted soul is faith in Christ. 
Conversion consists essentially in turning to 
him as the only Saviour ; and with the eye of 
the soul thus fixed upon him, Christ is re- 
ceived and rested upon for salvation. Such 
a sinner is truly converted ; he is a believer in 
Christ. 

Again faith in Christ apprehends the Re- 
deemer, not only as able and willing to save, 
but as infinitely excellent and glorious ; and 
hence it is always accompanied by love. Faith 
is not the same as love ; and yet it does not 
exist separately from it. The heart which is 
at enmity with God cannot, from the nature 
of the case, receive and rest on Christ by faith 



GRACE AND GLORY. 83 

until it is regenerated, and the moral state of 
the soul is changed. When the heart is re- 
newed by the Holy Spirit, the sinner exercises 
trust in Christ, and in connection with this 
trust all his affections are kindled into pious 
emotion, and the Saviour is felt to be exceed- 
ingly precious, the chief among ten thousand, 
the altogether lovely. 

Repentance is another evidence of conver- 
sion. This too is implied in the experience 
of that young lady, though not expressed so 
distinctly as faith and love. She felt a godly 
sorrow for sin, and a desire to turn from it 
unto God. Her apprehension of God's mercy 
in Christ gave a new aspect to her feelings. 
They were before characterized only by regret, 
remorse, anguish, but now they were pervaded 
by that genuine contrition, that true penitence, 
which not only fills the heart with grief, and 
the eyes with tears, but which produces a full 
purpose to lead a new and holy life. 

How beautifully, said Henry, are these 
several evidences expressed in the hymn we 
sung this morning at family worship ! It is 



84 GBACE AND GLORY. 

one of my favourite hymns, and I often sing 
it when alone. Shall I repeat it, father ? 
Being permitted to do so, he repeated the 
hymn as follows : 

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the cross I spend, 

Life, and health, and peace possessing, 
From the sinner's dying Friend. 

Here I'll sit for ever viewing, 
Mercy stream in streams of blood ; 

Precious drops, my soul bedewing, 
Plead and claim my peace with God. 

Truly blessed is this station, 

Low before his cross to lie ; 
While I see diviue compassion 

Floating in his languid eye. 

Here it is I find my heaven, 

While upon the cross I gaze ; 
Love I much ? I'm much forgiven; 

I'm a miracle of grace. 

Love and grief my heart dividing, 
With my tears his feet I bathe ; 

Constant still in faith abiding, 
Life deriving from his death. 

Mr. James remarked, This is indeed a 



GRACE AND GLORY. 85 

beautiful hymn. I have seen it printed, I 
think, in some hymn-book, under the title of 
The Convert's hymn. If a person feels in 
his heart, all which is here expressed ; if he 
possesses that faith which makes Christ appear 
precious; if he has love to God, and to his 
people ; if he exercises a true, evangelical re- 
pentance for sin, these are scriptural evidences 
that he is born again, that he is a converted 
man. 

MEANS OF CONVERSION OR REGENERATION. 

Henry James inquired, What means ought 
to be used in order to secure one's own con- 
version, or regeneration ? 

Mr. James replied, Your question assumes 
that means of some kind are requisite. This 
is true. I have heard sinners sometimes ex- 
cuse themselves for their indifference, by say- 
ing, that they cannot do any thing. They 
say they would like to experience religion ; but 
that God alone has power to regenerate and 
convert the soul, and that they must wait 
God's time, &c. These things are usually 
8 



86 GRACE AND GLORY. 

said as a mere pretext for delay, or to pacify 
their consciences which admonish them of 
their sin and danger. And though they con- 
tain some truth, they contain much error. 
For the purpose for which they are brought, 
they are indeed wholly erroneous, viz., as an 
excuse for neglecting the means of grace. 

The Presbyterian Confession of Faith 
teaches, that in Regeneration the sinner is 
passive. By this is meant that this change is 
the work of God ; that the sinner does not re- 
generate himself; but that he is acted upon 
by the Holy Spirit, who renovates his corrupt 
and depraved nature. When Divine grace is 
implanted in the soul, he then begins, and not 
before, to show by his inward spiritual exer- 
cises, and his outward acts, the existence of 
the vital principle thus implanted. This effect 
is called Conversion, in which the regenerated 
person is, of course, active. Conversion and 
Regeneration, therefore, though not identical, 
are so closely related to each other, that the 
means to be used are the same with reference 
to both. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 87 

The fact that God is the author of the change 
denoted by the terms Regeneration and Con- 
version, suggests, as one of the means which 
it is the sinner's duty to employ, humble and 
earnest prayer. Though he is spiritually dead, 
and must be quickened by the Holy Spirit, if 
he ever becomes a new creature, he is not a 
block, nor a stone, nor a machine, but a free, 
moral agent, a rational and accountable being, 
who, with a deep conviction of his dependence 
on God, should diligently seek his grace. 

Again, Peter, speaking of regenerated men, 
employs the following language : " Being born 
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
ruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and 
abideth for ever." As the word of God is the 
seed by the implanting and quickening of 
which, through the Holy Spirit, this great 
change is produced, God's word ought to be 
faithfully preached as a means of converting 
sinners ; and sinners themselves ought to em- 
ploy the diligent hearing and reading of the 
word, with a sincere endeavour to practise its 
precepts, as a means for their own conversion. 



88 GRACE AND GLORY. 

We should call a man foolish who should ne- 
glect to sow his seed, because he is dependent 
on God to make it vegetate and grow. Equally 
unreasonable is the sinner who neglects the 
word of God, or reads it in a careless manner, 
or with a sceptical or doubting frame of mind, 
because he cannot give it saving power and 
vitality. He must diligently attend to the 
holy Scripture, and endeavour to obey its 
instructions, and devoutly look to God to 
make his word effectual to the renewing of his 
heart. 

And further, his waiting upon God in the 
use of these means must be continued and per- 
severed in. Waiting God's time in the way 
of indifference and neglect of duty, which some 
plead for, is highly wicked and foolish. But 
waiting on the Lord in humble, earnest suppli- 
cation, in reading his word, and in endeavour- 
ing to obey its requirements, and then waiting 
his time to hear and bless us, is a scriptural 
and hopeful method of proceeding. Let every 
sinner try it. Let it be tried sincerely, faith- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 89 

fully, perseveringly. Sooner or later, I doubt 
not, he will obtain the desire of his heart. 

Mr. James now handed Henry the Bible, 
and told him to read the account of the impo- 
tent man at the pool of Bethesda, remarking 
that his case is an apposite illustration of the 
manner in which sinners ought to use the 
means of grace. 

Henry James read as follows : " Now there 
is at Jerusalem, by the sheep market, a pool, 
which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethes- 
da, having five porches. In these lay a great 
multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, 
withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 
For an angel went down at a certain sea- 
son into the pool, and troubled the water ; 
whosoever then first after the troubling of the 
water stepped in, was made whole of whatso- 
ever disease he had. And a certain man was 
there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight 
years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew 
that he had been now along time in that case, 
he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole ? 
The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have 
8* 



90 GRACE AND GLORY. 

no man, when the water is troubled, to put me 
into the pool ; but while I am coming, another 
steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto 
him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And 
immediately the man was made whole, and 
took up his bed and walked." John v. 2—9. 
Mr. James remarked, The diseased and 
helpless condition of this impotent man illus- 
trates the moral corruption and weakness of 
sinners, who are unable of themselves to do 
any thing spiritually good. And his waiting 
for the moving of the water, shows the true 
method which ought to be pursued by sinners 
with reference to their regeneration or con- 
version. 

1. He was deeply sensible of the misery of 
his condition. 

2. He felt an earnest desire to be restored 
to health. 

3. He placed himself by the side of the 
pool, whose healing water had proved to be 
efficacious in all cases where it had been em- 
ployed. 

4. He watched assiduously the moving of 



GRACE AND GLORY. 91 

the water, on which its efficacy depended, and 
sought to place himself in it. 

5. Though meeting with hindrances which 
were very discouraging, he continued to wait, 
watch, and struggle, hoping that he would 
ultimately succeed. 

6. In this condition our Lord met him, and 
by his question, disclosed another element 
which was important to his recovery, viz., his 
willingness to be made whole on any terms 
which might be offered, however much his 
weakness and poverty might be thereby ex- 
posed. Said Christ, "Wilt thou be made 
whole ?" His reply was, "I have no man, 
when the water is troubled, to put me into the 
pool. ,, As much as to say, I am helpless, 
friendless, and penniless. I have no power 
to apply the remedy myself, I have no friend 
to assist me, and no money to offer to any 
one, as an inducement to assist me in getting 
into the pool. 

What a feeling of utter destitution, said 
Mr. James, did that man disclose in this single 
sentence ! But though he felt thus, the pre- 



92 GRACE AND GLORY. 

vious particulars which I have named, show 
that his mind was fully made up to seek con- 
tinually until he should find. 

Then it was the Saviour interposed for his 
relief. He need not step into the pool of 
Bethesda, when there was one present who 
could heal him by his word. Christ was the 
" fountain opened for sin and uncleanness," 
and he graciously communicated its healing 
water both to the body and soul of this 
waiting sufferer. The cure was immediate. 

The work of regeneration, continued Mr. 
James, is instantaneous, but the manifestation 
of this change in conversion is often gradual. 
If, however, the former is real, the latter 
will always follow. The principle of grace 
implanted in the heart will be succeeded by 
gracious exercises. Grace communicated to 
the soul possesses a vitality which shows itself 
in corresponding feelings and conduct. As 
the impotent man, when he was healed, took 
up his bed and walked, so the regenerated or 
converted sinner walks henceforth, in newness 
of life. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 93 

Here, Henry, said Mr. James, is a hymn- 
book, entitled a 01ney Hymns/' composed by 
the Rev. John Newton and Mr. William 
Cowper. One of the hymns (of which Mr. 
Newton is the author) is a kind of paraphrase 
or exposition of this interesting and instructive 
narrative concerning the pool of Bethesda. 
I doubt not you will derive satisfaction and 
profit from reading it. 

Henry took the book and read as follows : 

Beside the gospel pool 

Appointed for the poor, 
From year to year my helpless soul 

Has waited for a cure. 

How often have I seen 

The healing waters move ; 
And others round me stepping in, 

Their efficacy prove ! 

But my complaints remain, 

I feel the very same ; 
As full of guilt, and fear, and pain, 

As when at first I came. 



94 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Oh, would the Lord appear 

My malady to heal ! 
He knows how long I've languished here, 

And what distress I feel. 

How often have I thought, 

Why should I longer lie ? 
Surely the mercy I have sought 

Is not for such as I. 

But whither can I go ? 

There is no other pool 
Where streams of sovereign mercy flow 

To make a sinner whole. 

Here then, from day to day, 

I'll wait, and hope, and try ; 
Can Jesus hear a sinner pray, 

Yet suffer him to die ? 

No ! he is full of grace ; 

He never will permit 
A soul that fain would see his face, 

To perish at his feet. 

Mr. James remarked, These sentiments are 
very encouraging ; and as you now profess 
to have met with a change of heart, you can 



GRACE AND GLORY. 95 

refer to the case of the impotent man, in ex- 
horting others to use the means of grace. 
Some of your acquaintances are serious. The 
Holy Spirit is striving with them. The angel 
of mercy is troubling the water. See -to it 
that your young companions do not perish be- 
cause of your neglect to help them into the 
pool. 

I should rejoice, said Henry, in being made 
an instrument of their conversion. But what 
can I do, father, to assist them in coming to 
Christ ? The gospel fountain is opened, and 
they are incited to take the water of life 
freely. If they do not come, it is because 
their own moral blindness and depravity keep 
them back ; and how can I remedy these diffi- 
culties ? 

Mr. James replied, You cannot convert 
their souls except instrumentally. I should 
shudder at the thought of proposing to you to 
perform the work of the Holy Spirit. But 
you can ask God to renew their hearts, and 
you can exhort them to pray for themselves. 



96 GRACE AND GLORY. 

You can also teach them, in the light of God's 
word, and your own religious .experience, how 
to seek the Lord, and can urge upon them 
their duty and privilege to embrace the present 
favourable opportunity of coming to Christ, 
and not to put it off a single day. These are 
scriptural means, in the faithful use of which 
you have strong encouragement to hope that 
your unconverted friends will experience the 
saving efficacy of the gospel. 

When the apostle James instructed the 
brethren to seek the conversion of those who 
might " err from the truth," he«did not mean 
that they possessed power to change their 
hearts ; but only that they could employ the 
appropriate means. Yet he calls this convert- 
ing them; and he enforces the duty by a 
most weighty consideration. " Let him know, 
that he which converteth the sinner from the 
error of his way shall save a soul from death, 
and shall hide a multitude of sins!" This 
great motive exists now, and I trust, my son, 
it will influence you to employ every scrip- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 97 

tural means to bring your young acquaintances 
and kindred out of their present state of sin 
and misery into a state of grace and salva- 
tion. With these remarks the conversation 

closed. 
9 



98 GRACE AND GLORY. 



CONVERSATION III. 

REPENTANCE, OR GRACE PRODUCING GODLY 
SORROW FOR SIN, AND A NEW AND HOLY 
LIFE. 

Henry James, agreeably to his father's ad- 
vice at the close of the last conversation, 
spoke to several of his acquaintances during 
the following week, on the subject of religion, 
particularly one whom he knew to be serious, 
and whom he felt a special desire to lead to 
Christ. On the succeeding Sabbath evening 
he said to his father, Joseph B. is very anxious 
about his soul, but he told me he could not 
come to Christ until he was more penitent. I 
was at a loss what I ought to say to him ; 
but I ventured the remark that though repent- 
ance is a duty, I thought it was not a means 
or preparation for exercising faith in Christ, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 99 

but rather the fruit of faith, and if so, he 
must believe first, and not endeavour to pre- 
pare himself for coming to Christ by repent- 
ance. Was this correct, father ? 

Mr. James replied, According to my un- 
derstanding of the Scriptures you stated to 
him the truth. I have often heard this diffi- 
culty presented by inquiring sinners, and 
my answer has been substantially the same as 
yours. Repentance, however, is essential to 
salvation, and its nature ought to be well un- 
derstood. I will endeavour to explain it, and 
also to show its relation to faith and a holy 
life. What is the definition of repentance as 
given in our Catechism ? 

Henry repeated the answer as follows : Re- 
pentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby 
a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and 
apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, 
doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn 
from it unto God, with full purpose of, and 
endeavour after, new obedience. 

This answer, said Mr. James, is scriptural; 
and hence you will be aided in understanding 



100 GRACE AND GLORY. 

the nature of evangelical repentance by 
noticing the several clauses contained in it. 

REPENTANCE EXPLAINED — IT INVOLVES FAITH 
— ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. Repentance requires a true sense of 
sin. 

2. An apprehension of the mercy of God in 
Christ. 

3. Grief and hatred for sin. 

4. A turning from sin unto God. 

5. A full purpose of, and endeavour after, 
new obedience. 

Why, father, said Henry, is the word true 
employed here to qualify the phrase " sense of 
sin ?" Can there be a sense of sin which is not 
a true sense ? 

Mr. James replied, A true sense of sin is 
that view of sin which accords with its evil 
nature as described in God's word; which 
perceives and feels its turpitude, and acknow- 
ledges the justice of the penalty pronounced 
against it in the divine law. A person may 
admit that he is a sinner, and yet be disposed 



GRACE AND GLORY. 101 

to palliate his guilt, to frame excuses for his 
sinful feelings and conduct, and to charge God 
with undue severity in threatening him with 
eternal wrath. Such a person has not a true 
sense of sin. He does not view sin as God 
does, either in its nature or desert. 

Henry asked again, What is meant in the 
Catechism by an apprehension of the mercy 
of God in Christ ? 

It means, said Mr. James, that a sinner 
who is truly penitent, hopes that God will 
pardon his sins for the sake of Christ who died 
as his atoning sacrifice. A person who is in 
complete despair never exercises, while in that 
state, saving repentance. It is not sufficient, 
however, for a sinner to rely solely on the 
general mercy of God without regard to Christ. 
Though God is good and gracious, he is just 
also, and Jesus Christ is the only channel 
through which his mercy can flow to sinners, 
without conflicting with the claims of justice. 
Repentance unto life must view God as he 
reveals himself in the gospel, viz., as " God 
in Christ reconciling the world unto him- 
9* 



102 GRACE AND GLORY. 

self, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them." 

The Rev. Dr. Duff, the distinguished mis- 
sionary in Calcutta, in referring to the baptism 
of a Mohammedan, says : " A few days before 
his baptism, I asked him what was the vital 
point in which he found Mohammedanism 
most deficient, and which he felt that Christ- 
ianity satisfactorily supplied. His prompt re- 
ply was, * Mohammedanism is full of the mercy 
of God. While I had no real consciousness 
of inward guilt as a breaker of God's law, this 
satisfied me; but when I felt myself to be 
guilty before God, and a transgressor of his 
law, I felt also that it was not with God's 
mercy alone, but also God's justice I had to 
do. How to meet the claims of God's justice 
Mohammedanism has made no provision, but 
this is the very thing which I have found fully 
accomplished by the atoning sacrifice of Christ 
on the cross; and therefore Christianity is now 
the only adequate religion for me a guilty 
sinner.' " 

Hence evangelical repentance implies faith 



GRACE AND GLORY. 103 

in Christ, that faith which renounces every 
other ground of reliance, and yields the whole 
heart and soul, with undivided trust, to the 
Saviour of sinners. Says an English travel- 
ler : 

In a part of the southern lands of North 
America, from which the Red Man has now 
been driven, I once attended a meeting held 
in the forest. The subject on which the 
preacher dwelt, and which he illustrated with 
extreme beauty, was "Christ and him cruci- 
fied." He spoke of "the good Shepherd," 
who came into the world to seek and to save 
the lost. He told how the Saviour met the 
rude scorn and rough treatment of the heart- 
less soldiers. He spoke of Gethsemane, and 
of him who wept there. He pointed to him 
as he hung bleeding on the cross. The con- 
gregation wept. Soon there was a slight 
movement amongst them, and a tall son of the 
forest, with tears on his cheeks, came near the 
pulpit, and said, "Did Jesus die for me — die 
for poor Indian? Me no lands to give to 



104 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Jesus — the white man take them away. Me 
give him my dog and my rifle. " 

The minister told him Jesus could not ac- 
cept these gifts. "Me give Jesus my dog, 
my rifle, my blanket ; poor Indian, he got no 
more to give — he give Jesus all." The min- • 
ister again answered that Jesus could not ac- 
cept them. The poor, ignorant, and humble 
child of the forest bent his head in sorrow, 
and seemed very thoughtful and penitent. 
He raised his head once more, looked earnestly 
at the preacher, and said, " Here is poor In- 
dian; will Jesus have him?" A thrill of joy 
ran through the souls of the minister and 
people, as this poor fierce son of the desert 
now sat, "in his right mind, ,, at the feet of 
Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God had done his 
work in that precious soul ; for it had made 
him feel the love of Jesus in his heart, and 
made him willing to yield his body, soul, and 
spirit unto Him who had loved him and given 
himself for him. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 105 

CONNECTION OF REPENTANCE WITH FAITH 
FURTHER EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

In this view of the matter, continued Mr. 
James, you may perceive the connection 
between Repentance and Faith. Faith re- 
ceives and rests on Christ alone for salvation, 
and the look of faith is always accompanied 
by sorrow for sin. " They shall look on him 
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn 
for hirn." Zech. xii. 10. Agreeably to this 
text, I have heard Repentance defined as 
"the tear that drops from the eye of faith, 
when that eye is fixed on the cross." Here 
is an anecdote, Henry, which you may read, 
containing a good illustration of this thought. 
Henry read as follows : 

Cambo, a negro, in one of the Southern 
States, being desired to give some account of 
his conversion, said, " While in my own coun- 
try, ( Guinea,) me had no knowledge of the 
being of a God, me thought me should die like 
the beasts. After me was brought to America, 
and sold as a slave, as me and another servant 



106 GRACE AND GLORY. 

by the name of Bess were working in the field, 
me began to sing one of my old country songs, 

< It is time to go home ;' when Bess say to me, 

< Cambo, why you sing so for? 1 Me say, 'Me 
no sick, me no sorry; why me no sing?' Bess 
say, ' You better pray to your blessed Lord 
and Massah, to have mercy on your soul/ 
Me look 'round, me look up, me see no one to 
pray to, but the words sound in my ears, 

< Better pray to your Lord and Massah !' Bye 
and bye, me feel bad ; sun shine sorry, birds 
sing sorry, land look sorry, but Cambo sorrier 
than them. Then me cry out, < Mercy, mercy, 
Lord, on poor Cambo V Bye and bye, water 
come in my eyes, and glad come in my heart ; 
then sun look gay, woods look gay, birds sing 
gay, land look gay, but poor Cambo gladder 
than them all. Me love my Massah some ; 
me want to love him more." 

When Henry had read this anecdote, Mr. 
James remarked further, The true penitent 
feels grief and hatred for sin. Paul describes 
repentance as consisting in godly sorrow, and 
he thus distinguishes it from the sorrow of the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 107 

world : " Godly sorrow worketh repentance 
unto salvation not to be repented of ; but the 
sorrow of the world worketh death.' ' Godly 
sorrow is that kind of grief for sin which pro- 
duces hatred of it. God hates sin, and so does 
the sinner who is truly penitent. A person may 
have a species of sorrow for sin, based on the 
fear of misery, and the hope of pardon ; but if 
it has no other foundation, it is spurious. Re- 
pentance requires such an apprehension of 
God's mercy in Christ, as makes us weep over 
our sins, and abhor ourselves on account 
of them. "Wherefore," says Job, "I abhor 
myself, and repent in dust and ashes !" 

And further still, there must be in close 
connection with these feelings, a turning from 
sin unto God. The true penitent feels and 
acts like the prodigal, who said, "I will arise 
and go to my Father, and I will say unto him, 
Father, 1 have sinned." And he no sooner 
formed the resolution than he arose and went. 
It is not a sorrow which drives the soul from 
God, like Cain's, who in his anguish of spirit 
went out from the presence of the Lord ; nor 



108 GRACE AND GLORY. 

like that of Judas, who, instead of imploring 
mercy, went away and hanged himself; but like 
David's, who in his distress invariably betook 
himself to the throne of Divine grace, there to 
implore forgiveness, and ask strength from on 
high to enable him to walk in the way of 
righteousness. 

RFPENTANCE ILLUSTRATED BY THE 130TH 
PSALM, AND DR. OWEN'S EXPERIENCE AND 
EXPOSITION OF THE SAME. 

You may read, said Mr. James, the 130th 
Psalm, which contains a touching description 
of the feelings of a true penitent. Henry 
read as follows : " Out of the depths have I 
cried unto thee, Lord. Lord, hear my voice : 
let thine ears be attentive to the voice of 
my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest 
mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand ? 
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou 
mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul 
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul 
waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch 
for the morning : I say, more than they that 



3RACE AND GLORY. 109 

watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in 
the Lord ; for with the Lord there is mercy, 
and with him is plenteous redemption. And 
he shall redeem Israel from all his iniqui- 
ties." 

When Henry had finished reading, he re- 
marked, I have often read this Psalm with spe- 
cial interest ; and I have sometimes sung Dr. 
Watts 's versification of its sentiments with much 
satisfaction and profit, particularly three or 
four verses of the second part. 

From deep distress and troubled thoughts, 
To thee, my God, I raised my cries ; 

If thou severely mark our faults, 
JNTo flesh can stand before thine eyes. 

But thou hast built thy throne of grace, 

Free to dispense thy pardons there, 
That sinners may approach thy face, 

And hope, and love, as well as fear. 

Great is his love, and large his grace, 
Through the redemption of his Son ; 

He turns our feet from sinful ways, 

And pardons what our hands have done. 
10 



110 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Mr. James remarked, One of the richest and 
most evangelical expositions of this Psalm was 
composed by Rev. Dr. Owen, who was proba- 
bly induced to write it, from his own experience 
of its power to benefit the soul. A young man, 
under conviction for sin, called upon him for 
advice. In the course of conversation, Dr. 
Owen said, " Young man, pray, in what man- 
ner do you think to go to God ?" The young 
man replied, " Through the Mediator, sir." 
"That is easily said," observed Dr. Owen; 
" but I assure you, it is another thing to go to 
God through the Mediator, than many who 
make use of the expression are aware of. I 
myself preached some years, while I had but 
very little, if any, acquaintance with access to 
God through Christ, until the Lord was pleased 
to visit me with a sore afHiction, by which I 
was brought to the brink of the grave, and 
under which my mind was filled with horror ; 
but God was graciously pleased to relieve my 
soul by a powerful application of Psa. cxxx. 
4. < But there is forgiveness with thee, that 
thou may est be feared/ From this text I 



GRACE AND GLORY. Ill 

received special light, peace, and comfort, in 
drawing near to God through the Mediator ; 
and on this text I preached immediately after 
Xny recovery. " 

Mr. James remarked further, Evangelical 
repentance is accompanied by a full purpose 
of, and endeavour after, new obedience. The 
word " repentance" in the original, signifies a 
change of mind, such a change as is followed 
by a corresponding change of conduct. There 
is another Greek word, translated "repent," 
which has not the same meaning. It signifies 
that the person regrets what he has done, but 
does not necessarily so hate his sinful course 
as to turn from it. Thus Judas repented, in the 
above sense, of his having betrayed his Lord ; 
but his repentance instead of producing good 
fruit, had the opposite effect. Not so with evan- 
gelical repentance. This kind of repentance 
produces a thorough reformation. Paul says, 
"For behold this self-same thing, that ye 
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness 
it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of your- 
selves, yea what indignation, yea, what fear, 



112 GRACE AND GLORY. 

yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, 
what revenge !" 2 Cor. vii. 11. These several 
terms express strongly an entire change of con- 
duct. Sins which are truly repented of, are 
forsaken. God's law is loved and obeyed. 
The result, of course, will be the leading of 
a new and holy life. Have you ever, Henry, 
had sand blown into your eyes ? 

Oh yes, said he ; but what has this to do, 
father, with repentance ? 

No sooner, replied Mr. James, did the grains 
of sand strike your tender eye-balls, than you 
began to weep, and your tears gradually car- 
ried the sand out of your eyes. So the tears 
of genuine repentance cleanse the heart, and 
reform the life. Your eyes were inflamed for 
a time, so that you could scarcely see, and 
you suffered considerable pain ; but when 
the cause was removed, you obtained relief, 
your eyes became healthy, and your sight was 
as clear as before. So in the process of re- 
pentance, there is inward pain : sin troubles 
the conscience, and fills the mind with fear 



GRACE AND GLORY. 113 

and terror. In this state of mingled grief, 
fear, and hope, the penitent exclaims, 

Oh, if my soul was formed for woe, 

How would I vent my sighs ! 
Eepentance should like rivers flow 

From both my weeping eyes. 

And while he gazes at the cross, weeping over 
his sins, he exclaims again, 

Oh ! how I hate those lusts of mine 

That crucified my God ; 
Those sins that pierced and nailed his flesh 

Fast to the fatal wood. 

Yes, my Kedeemer, they shall die, 

My heart has so decreed ; 
Nor will I spare the guilty things 

That made my Saviour bleed. 

While with a melting, broken heart, 

My murdered Lord I view, 
I'll raise revenge against my sins, 

And slay the murderers, too. 

REPENTANCE LEADS TO RESTITUTION. 

Henry James remarked, I have heard it said, 
10* 



114 GRACE AND GLORY. 

father, that if a man truly repents of his sins, 
he will make restitution to those whom he has 
injured. If he has defamed their characters, 
he will confess his error, and if he has de- 
frauded them in business, he will restore what 
is their just due. Please state your views 
on this point. 

Mr. James replied, The principle on which 
your statement is founded, accords with the 
teachings of the Bible. But the particular 
form in which it is to be carried out in practice, 
must be determined by circumstances. If a 
man's reputation is suffering from false reports 
circulated concerning him, and if you have 
had an agency in extending or keeping alive 
those reports, you cannot exercise true repent- 
ance, without feeling sorry for the wrong you 
have done in this particular; and provided 
your acknowledgment of this wrong will re- 
pair the injury done to his character, it ought 
to be promptly made. But if he would derive 
no benefit from such an acknowledgment, 
confession to God is all which the case de- 
mands. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 115 

With regard to the restitution of property, 
it ought to be restored with interest, provided 
the penitent has the pecuniary ability, and 
the parties are alive from whom it was dishon- 
estly taken. When Zaccheus became a disciple 
of Christ, he " stood and said unto the Lord ; 
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to 
the poor ; and if I have taken anything from 
any man by false accusation, I restore him 
four fold." This was according to a require- 
ment in the law of Moses, concerning the 
restoration of goods or money fraudulently 
taken ; and if it could be proved, it might be 
recovered by legal process. But in the case 
of Zaccheus, the proposal was made voluntarily, 
as an expression of his sincere sorrow for sin, 
and was not extorted from him by the forms of 
law. Sincere repentance will always produce 
a desire of the same kind, and when practica- 
ble, it will be carried into effect. 

AN EXAMPLE OF RESTITUTION. 

The following example of restitution is a 
single instance among many others, which I 



116 GRACE AND GLORY. 

might name, showing the effect of genuine re- 
pentance for sin. A housekeeper of an 
English gentleman had in her possession at 
his decease sixty pounds belonging to her em- 
ployer. She gave the money to her brother, 
and requested him to convey it to that gentle- 
man's nephew, who had inherited his uncle's 
estate. But her brother, instead of paying 
the money to the rightful owner, appropriated 
it to his own use. Some twenty years rolled 
away, when he was brought by divine grace 
to the saving knowledge of Christ. He then 
wrote to the gentleman requesting an interview 
at a certain time and place. When they met, 
he laid down sixty pounds, saying, This money 
belongs to you. Being asked for an explana- 
tion, he laid down sixty pounds more, and 
then narrated the circumstances, with the re- 
mark that the first sixty pounds was the 
principal, and the second sixty the interest ; 
which amount "I cheerfully return," said he, 
"as a proper restitution for money belonging 
to you;" and "I do assure you," he added, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 117 

"that this transaction has removed a very 
heavy weight from my distressed mind." 

REPENTANCE A SAVING GRACE. 

Henry James asked his father why repent- 
ance unto life is called in the Catechism a 
saving grace ? Is not repentance the act of 
the creature ? If so, how is it a grace ? Is 
not the calling of it a grace equivalent to say- 
ing that it comes from God ? 

Mr. James replied, Genuine repentance 
does come from God. By this, however, is 
not meant that God repents for us, but that 
he imparts grace to us by which we are in- 
clined and enabled to exercise true sorrow for 
sin. This is one reason why evangelical re- 
pentance is called godly sorrow. It is not 
only repentance towards God, but is wrought 
in us by his grace. Christ was exalted to be 
a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance. 
His exaltation procured the mission of the 
Holy Spirit, whose special office it is to renew 
the heart ; and when the heart is regenerated, 
faith and repentance are invariably exercised, 



118 GRACE AND GLORY. 

as the first acts of our new, moral nature. 
These graces are as really our own acts, and 
are exercised as freely, as though they were 
performed without divine aid ; and yet this aid 
is essential to their existence in such a form 
as to save the soul. 

There may be a speculative faith, consisting 
of an intellectual assent to revealed truth, as the 
result of historical evidence or logical argu- 
ment ; but this is not saving faith. In like 
manner, there may be a species of repentance, 
arising from the convictions of natural con- 
science, or the apprehension of divine wrath ; 
and yet not be repentance unto life. Re- 
morse is not always accompanied by true 
penitence. Fear of punishment, as the con- 
sequence of sin, is not identical with grief and 
hatred for sin. Remorse and fear are not 
indeed to be excluded from a description of 
true repentance ; but when they are wrought 
by the Holy Spirit, they are so modified in 
their character, as to make them materially 
different from those natural emotions which 
are denoted by these terms ; and they are also 



GRACE AND GLORY. 119 

accompanied by other exercises which are not 
found in the unrenewed man, and are pro- 
duced only by divine grace. In the words of 
one of our hymns : 

Sovereign grace hath power alone, 
To subdue a heart of stone ; 
And the moment grace is felt, 
Then the hardest heart will melt. 

Another hymn has this verse : 

But power divine can do the deed, 
And much to feel that power I need ; 
Thy Spirit can from dross refine, 
And move, and melt this heart of mine. 

Again, the same sentiment is expressed in 
the form of a prayer : 

Dear Saviour, steep this rock of mine 

In thine own crimson sea : 
None but a bath of blood divine 

Can melt the flint away. 

I think there is no real Christian of any 
denomination, who could not cordially adopt 
these sentiments; and this fact is a strong 



120 GRACE AND GLORY. 

testimony derived from the inward experience 
of God's people, corroborating the teachings 
of his word on this important point. Repent- 
ance is one of the graces of the Holy Spirit, 
and is as much a matter for praise and thanks- 
giving by those who have experienced it, as 
any other manifestation of divine grace and 
mercy. 

SCRIPTURE PROOF THAT REPENTANCE IS OP 
GOD, WITH EXAMPLES OF REPENTANCE 
TAKEN FROM THE BIBLE. 

Henry James, at his father's request, turned 
to several texts of Scripture, in which repent- 
ance is declared to be from God, particularly 
the following ; " When they heard these things, 
they held their peace, and glorified God, say- 
ing, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted 
repentance unto life." Acts xi. 18. "In meek- 
ness instructing those that oppose themselves ; 
if God peradventure will give them repentance 
to the acknowledging of the truth.' ' 2 Tim. 
ii. 25. 

Mr. James remarked concerning these two 



GRACE AND GLORY. 121 

passages, that the first relates to the preach- 
ing of Peter in the house of Cornelius. "And 
as I began to speak/' said he, "the Holy- 
Ghost fell on them, as on us at the begin- 
ning." The means employed for bringing 
them to repentance, was Peter's preaching; 
but the efficient agent was the Holy Spirit, 
who produced that change of mind and char- 
acter denoted by gospel repentance. This 
change was granted to them and wrought in 
them as a great privilege, on account of which 
the apostles and brethren glorified God. The 
second proof text is a part of Paul's directions 
to Timothy, how to treat those persons who 
had fallen into the snare of the devil, and been 
taken captive by him at his will : L £., how to 
treat them with a view to their being recovered 
from that snare. They must be brought to 
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. 
The means to be used was scriptural instruc- 
tion, imparted with a gentle, christian spirit ; 
but the power to effect the desired change was 
in God, who alone could renew their hearts, 

and enlighten their minds to discern spiritual 
11 



122 GRACE AND GLORY. 

things. And so it is in all cases of saving 
repentance. 

You may now, said Mr. James, turn to a 
few examples of repentance recorded in God's 
word, in order to illustrate the views which 
have been given. Henry James, at his father's 
suggestion, read two examples recorded in the 
Old Testament, viz., Job and David. Job's 
language was, " I have heard of thee by the 
hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye seeth 
thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent 
in dust and ashes." 

You remember, said Mr. James, that Job is 
spoken of in the beginning of the book, as a 
" perfect and upright man, who feared God, 
and eschewed evil." He was greatly afflicted ; 
and for a time he endured his severe trials 
with extraordinary patience. But at length 
he cursed his day. His friends chided him, 
and charged him with hypocrisy. He vindi- 
cated himself against these false charges, and 
maintained his sincerity and piety of heart. 
Yet his feelings were not in all respects pleas- 
ing to God. When their conversation closed, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 123 

the Lord addressed him, and by a series of 
the most remarkable questions ever propounded 
to mortal man, and accompanied by an influ- 
ence which none but Jehovah could exert, 
brought Job to see and confess his error, with 
the most solemn and profound humility. He 
abhorred himself, and repented in dust and 
ashes. It was his proper position, and the 
one which every intelligent being on earth 
ought to take, when he comes before God. 

To show the character of David's repentance, 
Henry read the 51st Psalm, which, Mr. James 
remarked, is sometimes called the penitential 
Psalm, because David was inspired to write it, 
as an expression of his penitence in the mat- 
ter of Uriah, an account of which is found in 
2nd Sam. 11th and 12th chapters. That 
Psalm, he continued, contains all the elements 
of repentance mentioned in the catechism, viz., 
a true sense of sin, an apprehension of the 
mercy of God in Christ, grief and hatred for 
sin, a turning from sin unto God, and a full 
purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience. 
I notice this fact, in order that you may per- 



124 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ceive, by comparing the two together, that the 
answer in the catechism is founded on the 
holy Scriptures. Read also the 51st Psalm 
in the beautiful language of Dr. Watts. I 
doubt whether you can find a sentiment in his 
version of that Psalm which is not in harmony 
with the inspired words ; though it does not 
profess to be an exact translation. The first 
part of Watts's 51st Psalm has been one of 
my favourite selections for devotional reading 
or singing for many years past, and I have 
often repeated the words inaudibly, to express 
my inward feelings and desires. It begins, 

Show pity, Lord, Lord, forgive, 
Let a repenting rebel live ; 
Are not thy mercies large and free ? 
May not a sinner trust in thee ? 

My crimes are great, but don't surpass 
The power and glory of thy grace ; 
Great God, thy nature hath no bound, 
So let thy pardoning love be found. 






GRACE AND GLORY. 125 



WHAT FOLLOWS AND WHAT PRECEDES REPENT- 
ANCE. ILLUSTRATIONS OF SORROW AND 
JOY. 

Henry James expressed much satisfaction 
with his father's remarks on these examples 
of repentance ; and added, I should be pleased, 
father, to have an example or two from the 
.New Testament. 

Mr. James replied, I have already noticed 

the repentance of Zaccheus, Luke xix. 1 — 8 ; 

and of the Corinthians, 2 Cor. vii. 9. I will 

however add another to those examples, viz., 

the repentance of Peter after he denied his 

Lord. You may read the account in Luke 

xxii. 54 — 62. When Henry had read it, Mr. 

James remarked, Peter's repentance had its 

origin in the gracious look of Christ. " The 

Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.' ' And it 

was characterized by deep and heart-felt 

sorrow. He "went out and wept bitterly." 

His subsequent life showed also a thorough 

reformation. He became, ever after, a bold 

and persevering preacher and defender of the 
11* 



126 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Christian faith, and he closed his life with the 
crown of martyrdom. 

Henry remarked, I perceive, father, from 
these examples, why the apostle Peter con- 
nected together repentance and conversion, 
saying, in one of his discourses, u Repent and 
be converted, that your sins may be blotted 
out." Repentance, if genuine, will always be 
followed by a change of character and con- 
duct, such as is denoted by the word conver- 
sion. But there is one thing which I do not 
so clearly understand. Peter said in another 
discourse, " Repent and be baptized every 
one of you for the remission of sins." Did he 
mean by baptism, in one sermon, the same as 
he did in the other, by conversion ? 

Mr. James replied, Your explanation of the 
connection between repentance and conversion 
is correct. But it does not follow from this 
that baptism is to be understood precisely in 
the same way. The meaning of the two pas- 
sages is, however, substantially alike. Bap- 
tism is a religious ordinance expressing, on 
the part of a person receiving it, his belief that 



GRACE AND GLORY. 127 

he has experienced that change of character, 
and his solemn purpose to pursue that course 
of life, which are indicated by the word conver- 
sion. There is, therefore, an analogy between 
them, though the two are not identical. The 
one is a religious profession ; the other is the 
change which such a profession is designed to 
signify. The one is the sign and seal of a be- 
liever's dedication to God ; the other is the 
state of mind which prompts him to make this 
dedication. 

Mr. James remarked further, As you have 
noticed the order in which Peter mentions 
conversion, viz., as immediately succeeding 
repentance, I will call your attention to the 
feelings which go before repentance, — I mean 
distress for sin. The people " were pricked 
in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the 
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what 
shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Re- 
pent, " &c. This sorrow, though requisite as 
a preparatory work, is not, strictly speaking, 
repentance itself. Thus Paul says, "Godly 
sorrow worketh repentance/ ' A true sense 



128 GRACE AND GLORY. 

of sin always precedes evangelical repentance, 
and hence this is made, in the catechism, a 
part of the answer to the question, What is 
repentance unto life? But it is susceptible 
of being contemplated separately; and this 
distinction is important, in enabling us to an- 
swer the objection, which is sometimes made, 
that the doctrine of repentance represents the 
Christian life as one of perpetual grief and 
gloom. 

In a powerful revival of religion, the Rev. 
Dr. Nettleton once said, "It may be new to 
some of you that there should be such distress 
for sin. But there was great distress on the 
day of Pentecost, when thousands were pricked 
in the heart, and cried out, < Men and brethren, 
what shall we do?' Some of you may, per- 
haps, be ready to say, ' If this is religion, we 
wish to have nothing to do with it.' My 
friends, this is not religion. Religion does 
not cause its subjects to feel and act thus. 
These individuals are thus distressed, not be- 
cause they have religion, but because they have 
no religion, and have found it out. It was so 



GRACE AND GLORY. 129 

on the day of Pentecost. They had made the 
discovery that they were lost sinners, and that 
their souls were in jeopardy every hour. ,, 

When sinners truly repent, continued Mr. 
James, their distress of mind is relieved, and 
they are peaceful and happy. Though, indeed, 
their whole Christian life is characterized as a 
succession of repentant feelings, (for Christians 
find cause for daily repentance,) these feelings 
are marked by a predominance of happy emo- 
tions. An instructor of the deaf and dumb, 
once asked his pupils, " Which is the most de- 
lightful emotion ?" One of them wrote on the 
slate, Joy; another, Hope; a third, Gratitude; a 
fourth, Love. When no further answer seemed 
to occur to any one, a female pupil, with a 
countenance full of peace, and yet a tearful 
eye, wrote, "Repentance is the most delightful 
emotion.' ' The teacher turned to her, and 
with an expression of wonder, asked her, 
"Why?" "Oh," said she, in the significant 
language of looks and gestures, "it is so de- 
lightful to be humbled before God !" 



130 GKACE AND GLORY. 

EXPERIENCE OE COL. JAMES GARDINER. 

Henry James listened with fixed attention, 
and then said, These illustrations remind me 
of the remarkable experience of Col. James 
Gardiner, whose biography I have just finished. 
If you please, father. I will read some extracts 
from that Memoir, showing the effect which 
repentance had on his enjoyment. Mr. James 
giving his permission. Henry read as follows: 

Col. James Gardiner was born in January 
1688. His father, Captain Patrick Gardiner, 
served many years in the army of King 
William and Queen Ann. His mother in- 
structed him with great tenderness and affec- 
tion in the principles of the Christian religion. 
She would have gladly prevailed on him not to 
engage in military life ; but he could not be re- 
strained. He enlisted in the army at an early 
age, and distinguished himself by h : s extra- 
ordinary courage and bravery. For eleven 
or twelve years after his enlistment, between 
the 19th and 30th years of his life, he lived 
in entire alienation from God, and in the eager 



GRACE AND GLORY. 131 

pursuit of sinful pleasures. The account of 
his conversion, as given by Dr. Doddridge, is to 
the following effect: Having spent the evening 
in some gay company, until 11 o'clock, and 
having a wicked appointment with a companion 
in sin, whom he was to meet exactly at 12, 
he entered his chamber in order to spend the 
intervening hour in perusing some amusing 
book. But it was so directed in the provi- 
dence of God that he should take up a re- 
ligious book, which his pious mother or aunt 
had, without his knowledge, slipped into his 
portmanteau. It was entitled, " The Christian 
soldier, or heaven taken by storm, by Mr. 
Thomas Watson." Being attracted by the 
title, he resolved to dip into it ; and while he 
was reading, he thought he saw an unusual 
blaze of light fall on the book, which he at 
first imagined might happen by some accident 
in the candle. But lifting up his eyes, he ap- 
prehended to his extreme amazement, that 
there was before him, as it were suspended in 
the air, a visible representation of the Lord 
Jesus Christ upon the cross, surrounded on all 



132 GRACE AND GLORY. 

sides with a glory ; and he was impressed, as if a 
voice, or something equivalent to a voice, had 
come to him to this effect: (whether he was 
awake, or had suddenly fallen asleep, he could 
not tell :) " sinner, did I suffer this for 
thee, and are these the returns?" Struck 
with so amazing a phenomenon as this, there 
remained hardly any life in him, so that he 
sunk back in the arm chair in which he sat, 
and continued, he knew not how long, insensi- 
ble; after which, upon opening his eyes, he 
saw nothing more than usual. 

He passed the remainder of the night, and 
several which followed, with scarcely any 
sleep. His mind was continually engaged in 
reflecting on the divine goodness ; the grace 
which had been proposed to him in the gospel, 
and which he had rejected ; the singular ad- 
vantages he had enjoyed and abused ; and the 
many favours of Providence which he had re- 
ceived, particularly in rescuing him from so 
many imminent dangers of death, which he 
now saw must have been attended with such 
dreadful and hopeless destruction. The priv- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 133 

ileges of his early pious education, which he 
had so much despised, now lay with an almost 
insupportable weight upon his mind ; and the 
folly of that career of sinful pleasure, which 
he had so many years been running with des- 
perate eagerness, now filled him with indigna- 
tion against himself, and against the great 
deceiver, by whom, as he said, he had been 
"so wretchedly and scandalously befooled." 

The mind of Col. Gardiner continued from 
this remarkable time, for more than three 
months, in as extraordinary a situation as one 
can well imagine. He knew nothing of the 
joys arising from a sense of pardon ; but, on 
the contrary, with very short intervals of hope, 
he took it for granted, that he must, in all 
probability, quickly perish. Nevertheless, he 
had such a sense of the evil of sin, of the 
goodness of the divine Being, and of the ad- 
mirable tendency of the Christian revelation, 
that he resolved to spend the remainder of 
his life, while God continued him out of hell, 
in as rational and as useful a manner as he 

could ; and to continue casting himself at the 
12 



134 GRACE AND GLORY. 

feet of divine mercy, every day, and often in 
a day, if peradventure there might be hope 
of pardon, of which all that he could say was, 
that he did not absolutely despair. He had 
such a sense of the degeneracy of his own 
heart, that he hardly durst form any deter- 
minate resolution against sin, or pretend to 
engage himself by any vow in the presence 
of God ; but he was continually crying to him, 
that he would deliver him from the bondage 
of corruption. He perceived in himself a most 
surprising alteration with regard to the dis- 
positions of his heart ; so that, though he felt 
little of the delight of religious duties, he ex- 
tremely desired opportunities of being engaged 
in them ; and those licentious pleasures, which 
had before been his delight, were now abso- 
lutely his aversion. 

Nor was he only delivered from that bond- 
age of corruption, which had been habitual to 
him for so many years, but he felt in his breast 
so contrary a disposition, that he was grieved 
to see human nature, in many around him, 
prostituted to such low and contemptible pur- 






GRACE AND GLORY. 135 

suits. He therefore exerted his natural cour- 
age in a new kind of combat, and became an 
open advocate for religion, in all its princi- 
ples, so far as he was acquainted with them ; 
and in all its precepts, relating to sobriety, 
righteousness, and godliness. The continued 
revilings with which he was received, in almost 
all companies where he had been most familiar 
before, did often distress him beyond measure ; 
so that he several times declared, he would 
much rather have marched up to a battery of 
the enemy's cannon, than have been obliged, 
so continually as he was, to face such artillery 
as this. But like a brave soldier, and by aid 
of divine grace, he continued resolute, till he 
turned ridicule and opposition into respect and 
veneration. 

But this sensible triumph over these diffi- 
culties was not till his Christian experience had 
been abundantly advanced, by the blessing of 
God on the sermons he heard, and on the many 
hours he spent in devout retirement, pouring 
out his whole soul before God in prayer. 
Particularly was the burden of his mind re- 



136 GRACE AND GLORY. 

lieved by the powerful impression made upon 
it by that Scripture, Rom. iii. 25, 26 — "Whom 
God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through 
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness 
for the remission of sins, that he might be 
just, and the justifier of him that believeth in 
Jesus." He had used to imagine, that the 
justice of God required the damnation of so 
enormous a sinner as he saw himself to be ; 
but now he was made deeply sensible that the 
divine justice might be not only vindicated, 
but glorified, in saving him by the blood of 
Jesus, even that blood which cleanseth us from 
all sin. Then did he see and feel the riches 
of redeeming love and grace, in such a man- 
ner as not only engaged him, with the utmost 
pleasure and confidence, to venture his soul 
upon it, but even swallowed up, as it were, 
his whole heart in the returns of love, which, 
from that blessed time, became the genuine 
principle of his obedience, and animated him, 
with an enlarged heart, to run the way of God's 
commandments. 

All the terrors of his former state were now 



GRACE AND GLORY. 187 

changed into unutterable joy, which kept him 

almost continually waking for three nights 

together, and yet refreshed him as the noblest 

cordials. And though the first ecstasies of it 

afterwards subsided into a more calm and 

composed delight, yet were the impressions so 

deep, and so permanent, that for about seven 

years after this he enjoyed almost a heaven 

upon earth. His soul was so continually filled 

with a sense of the love of God in Christ, that 

it knew little interruption, but when necessary 

converse and the duties of his station called 

off his thoughts for a little time ; and when 

they did so, as soon as he was alone, his heart 

was rising to God, and triumphing in him; 

and these thoughts attended him through all 

the scenes of life, until he closed his earthly 

course, and entered into eternal joy. 

When Henry had read this account, Mr. 

James remarked, This is indeed "repentance 

unto salvation;" — salvation from sin, and 

salvation from hell. It is "repentance unto 

life ;" to a holy and happy life on earth, and 

to a glorious and endless life in heaven. I de- 
12* 



188 GRACE AND GLORY. 

voutly wish and pray, my son, that your re- 
ligious experience may prove to be as satis- 
factory, as hopeful, and as full of peace and 
joy, as that of Col. Gardiner. 

The time allotted to this conversation having 
expired, it was closed with the usual family 
devotions, including the singing of a hymn 
which contained the following lines : 

Guilty, but with heart relenting, 
Overwhelmed with helpless grief, 

Prostrate at thy feet repenting, 
Send, oh ! send me quick relief. 

With thy righteousness and Spirit ; 

I am more than angels blest ; 
Here with thee, all things inherit, 

Peace, and joy, and endless rest. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 139 



CONVERSATION IV. 

GRACE ABOUNDING, OR PENITENT SINNERS 
WELCOME TO CHRIST. 

On the succeeding Sabbath, Mr. James 
preached a sermon from Luke xv. 2. "And 
the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 
This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with 
them." The introductory remarks related to 
the persons by whom the words were spoken, 
and the spirit by which they were actuated in 
giving them utterance. They were spoken by 
men, whose high standing, and reputation for 
sanctity, gave them great influence with the 
people ; and they exerted their influence, as 
far as possible, against Christ. Among other 
things they alleged, with an accusing, mur- 
muring tone, that he received sinners, intend- 



140 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ing thereby the injurious but false insinuation, 
that he associated with them in such a sense 
as to imply sympathy with their wickedness ; 
whereas our Lord mingled with them as a 
physician does with the sick, not to catch the 
disease, but to cure it ; or as a philanthropist 
converses with criminals, not to express ap- 
probation of their conduct, but to reform their 
character. What they said, therefore, with a 
view of injuring Christ, was in reality a high 
commendation. With murmuring lips they 
uttered a most precious gospel truth, viz., that 
Christ receives sinners, a truth which ought 
to be hailed with joy and gratitude by all 
men. After discussing this subject in its 
several aspects and connections, Mr. James 
noticed the gracious and welcome manner in 
which our Lord receives those who seek his 
favour, and closed with an earnest invitation 
to all to come to Christ. The concluding 
hymn was as follows : 



GRACE AND GLORY. 141 

Come, ye sinners, poor and Wretched, 
Weak and wounded, sick and sore, 

Jesus ready stands to save you, 
Full of pity, love, and power : 

He is able, 
He is willing, doubt no more. 

Ho ! ye needy, come and welcome, 

God's free bounty glorify ; 
True belief and true repentance, 

Every grace that brings us nigh, 
Without money, 

Come to Jesus Christ and buy. 

Let not conscience make you linger, 

Nor of fitness fondly dream ; 
All the fitness he requireth, 

Is to feel your need of him ; 
This he gives you : 

'Tis the Spirit's rising beam. 

Come, ye weary, heavy laden, 

Lost and ruined by the fall ; 
If you tarry till you're better, 

You will never come at all, 
Not the righteous, 

Sinners, Jesus came to call. 

In the evening Henry James said to his 
father, Two things struck me to day, as being 



142 GRACE AND GLORY. 

very wonderful : one was, that Christ should 
be so willing to receive sinners ; and the other, 
that the Pharisees and scribes should murmur 
because he did so. 

Mr. James replied, Considering how great 
Christ is, and how unworthy we are, it is in- 
deed surprising that he should notice us at all. 
David thought so, when he exclaimed, in view 
of his promised advent, " What is man, that 
thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, 
that thou visitest him?" But Jehovah de- 
clares, in view of this very matter, that his 
ways and his thoughts are as much above ours, 
as the heavens are higher than the earth. 
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- 
righteous man his thoughts : and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy 
upon him ; and to our God, for he will abun- 
dantly pardon. For my thoughts are not 
your thoughts, neither are your ways my 
ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are 
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher 
than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
thoughts." 



GRACE AND GLORY. 143 

On the other hand, the murmuring of the 
Pharisees and scribes was truly surprising. 
If their hearts had been as benevolent as 
Christ's, and if they had entertained right 
views of the nature and design of his coming 
into our world, they would have rejoiced in 
his merciful disposition towards sinners, and 
have done all they could to induce them to 
come to him. But they were proud and self- 
righteous. They regarded the Messiah only 
as a temporal prince, under whose reign they 
were to be prime ministers. And they de- 
spised those whose characters and stations, 
according to their mode of estimating these 
things, were inferior to their own. Hence 
they were offended when they saw Christ, who 
claimed to be the Messiah, notice kindly and 
graciously the lowest and most wicked of the 
people, not less than those who occupied 
honourable positions in society, and whose 
characters were deemed to be respectable and 
virtuous. 



144 GRACE AND GLORY. 

SOME PERSONS NOW FEEL AND ACT IN A WAY 
SIMILAR TO THOSE PHARISEES — AN ANEC- 
DOTE. 

But strange as it may appear, and strange 
as it really was, said Mr. James, some persons 
now feel and act in a way very similar to those 
Pharisees. Their spirit and conduct towards 
those who manifest a desire to become re- 
ligious, and seek an interest in Christ, are 
just the opposite of what we ought to expect 
in such a case. Instead of encouraging them 
to become Christians, they oppose them, and 
endeavour to thwart their efforts to forsake 
their sins and lead pious lives. The hearts 
of men are wicked. They are opposed to 
God ; especially do they murmur at his dis- 
plays of distinguishing grace to sinners ; and 
hence they disparage Christ and the way of 
salvation through him. Their opposition 
shows itself sometimes in impious expressions 
against the Lord ; and at others, in persecuting 
his people. From the time of our Lord's 
sojourn on earth until now, his followers have 



GRACE AND GLORY. 145 

frequently been called to endure severe trials 
and sufferings for his sake, and sometimes to 
lay down their lives. Persons are found even 
in Christian lands, who disown their nearest 
relatives, for no other reason than because 
they have become followers of Christ ; while 
in some instances they threaten to do so, but 
are arrested by the merciful hand of God, 
and become themselves trophies of redeeming 
grace. This last result it is pleasant to record. 
Several cases of this kind are contained in a 
volume which lies before me, one of which you 
may read. 

Henry read as follows : About thirty years 
ago, a lad in one of the western States, was 
hopefully converted. His father, who was 
irreligious and profane, was so displeased with 
his son's profession of faith in Christ, and 
especially with his affectionate and earnest 
entreaties with his father to seek the Lord, 
that in a fit of rage, he told his son to quit 
his religion, or leave his father's house, and 
gave him till the morning to decide the ques- 
tion. 
13 



146 GRACE AND GLORY. 

At the time fixed upon, his father inquired 
whether he had decided what to do. " Yes, 
father," said the lad, "I am decided to serve 
God — to serve him as long as I live; and I feel 
assured that ' when my father and my mother 
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up/ " 
The father, still firm to his purpose, directed 
him to the door, saying, u You must leave my 
house for ever." The son asked permission 
to pray with his parents, before he bade them 
a final adieu. So reasonable a request could 
not be refused. He kneeled down and prayed. 
His full soul was poured out, and his earnest 
cries went up to the throne of God. The 
Holy Spirit descended, and both father and 
mother were brought under deep conviction 
for sin. 

When the lad arose from his knees, his 
parents, instead of bidding him farewell, be- 
sought him, with trembling hearts, to tell them 
what they should do to be saved. With the 
meekness of a Christian, and the affection of 
a son, he directed them to the Lamb of God, 
which taketh away the sin of the world. His 



GRACE AND GLORY. 147 

faithful, yet filial, conversations were accom- 
panied by the enlightening and renewing in- 
fluences of the Holy Spirit. Not long after- 
wards they both made a public profession of 
religion, and when this account was penned, 
they were leading consistent Christian lives. 

THE MURMURING OF THE PHARISEES UN- 
REASONABLE. 

You may now tell me, Henry, continued 
Mr. James, what I said in my sermon con- 
cerning the murmuring of the Pharisees and 
scribes. 

Henry replied, You said, father, that their 
murmuring was unreasonable, and that our 
Lord, with a view of showing this, mentioned 
the several cases recorded in that chapter. 
If a man having a hundred sheep, should lose 
one of them, or if a woman having ten pieces 
of silver, should lose one piece, great pains 
would be taken to recover it, and when it was 
found, there would be great rejoicing; and 
even the neighbours would be called in to re- 
joice with them, because the lost sheep, or the 



148 GRACE AND GLORY. 

lost piece of silver, was found. And yet what 
was the value of a sheep, or a piece of silver, 
compared with an immortal soul? Instead 
therefore of murmuring, they ought to have 
rejoiced because Christ received sinners. 

You also alluded to the return of the 
prodigal son to his father's house, and to the 
cordial welcome he received from his father, 
who commanded the best robe to be put on 
him, and the fatted calf to be killed, and a 
feast to be prepared, because of his son's re- 
turn. But how opposite, you said, were the 
feelings of his elder brother, who was angry, 
and would not enter the house, because his 
father had received the returning prodigal! 
The murmuring of the Pharisees, because 
Christ received sinners, you remarked, was 
like the conduct of this elder brother, which 
our Lord alluded to for the purpose of show- 
ing that their feelings were very improper, 
and without excuse. If that brother's conduct 
was improper, so was theirs. 

Mr. James asked Henry, What did I say 



GRACE AND GLORY. 149 

about the joy of angels over the repentance 
of sinners ? 

Henry replied, You quoted the words of 
Luke, " Likewise joy shall be in heaven over 
one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
ninety and nine just persons which need no 
repentance." And again, " There is joy in 
the presence of the angels of God over one 
sinner that repenteih." You then remarked, 
that the murmuring of the Pharisees and 
scribes was so contrary to the spirit of heaven, 
that if the holy angels had been present on 
that occasion, they would have blushed for their 
wicked and impious conduct. I think you said 
little if anything more than this, and I suppose 
no more was necessary for the purpose you 
had in view, viz., to illustrate the unreason- 
ableness of those men in murmuring against 
Christ for showing compassion and mercy to 
sinners. But I would thank you, father, to ex- 
plain those words relating to the joy of angels, 
particularly what Christ meant by saying that 
"joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that 
13* 



150 GRACE AND GLORY. 

repenteth, more than over ninety and nine 
just persons which need no repentance." 

Mr. James replied, Some suppose our Lord 
alluded to the self-righteous Pharisees, who, 
though not really just, imagined themselves 
to be so, and hence thought they needed no 
repentance. If this was the meaning of the 
words, then Christ intended, thereby, to rebuke 
the Pharisees and scribes for their self-right- 
eous spirit. As though he had said, These 
publicans and sinners, whose coming to me is 
the occasion of your complaint, because I re- 
ceive them into my favour, are noticed in 
heaven with far more pleasure than you are, 
who think so highly of yourselves, and despise 
others. Ye Pharisees, repent of your sinful 
pride, that angels may rejoice over you. 

Others think that Christ alluded to the holy 
angels, who were really and perfectly just, 
and had therefore no need of repentance, be- 
cause they had never committed any sins to 
repent of. As the finding of a lost child pro- 
duces a more lively joy in the family to which 
it belongs, than is felt with regard to the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 151 

other children who have never wandered from 
home ; so the angels in heaven feel a warmer 
glow of sympathetic delight at the repentance 
of a sinner, and his recovery to the household 
of God, than they do with regard to each other, 
who have always maintained a holy charac- 
ter. I am inclined to the opinion that this is 
the sense of the passage, and I think that this 
interpretation accords as fully as the other 
with Christ's design, viz., to reprove the 
Pharisees and scribes for murmuring against 
him. 

The number ninety-nine, as compared with 
one, was not designed to have any specific 
application, except to complete the verbal 
analogy suggested by the number of sheep in 
the flock, which was one hundred, compared 
with the loss of one. This is evident from the 
fact that, in the second illustration, this verbal 
analogy is dropped, though the sense is pre- 
cisely the same as before. Thus with refer- 
ence to the finding of one piece of silver, 
which was lost from a purse containing ten 
pieces, our Lord simply says, " There is joy 



152 GRACE AND GLORY. 

in the presence of the angels of God over one 
sinner that repenteth," without making any 
comparison between the one piece that was 
found, and the nine pieces which had remained 
safe in the possession of their owner. 

Please to inform me, father, said Henry, 
why the holy angels rejoice over repenting 
sinners. 

Several reasons may be given, said Mr. 
James. (1.) When sinners repent, God is 
glorified in the homage which they pay to 
him. In this, angels rejoice, because their 
highest delight is to adore God. ( 2.) Repent- 
ing sinners glorify Christ as their Saviour, 
who shows his great mercy in receiving them, 
and his great power and grace in reforming 
their characters and making them holy. This 
display of his redeeming love causes joy to 
the angels, who see in each repenting sinner 
a new illustration of the glorious work of re- 
demption. (3.) The repentance of sinners 
provides new instruments for promoting the 
cause of religion in the world ; and this too is 
a source of pleasure and delight to the angels 



GRACE AND GLORY. 153 

of God. (4.) And a further reason still is, 
that the repentance of sinners is the means 
of their recovery from ruin and their enjoy- 
ment of everlasting happiness, in their way to 
which angels are their ministering spirits, and 
in the possession of which they will be their 
eternal companions. 

GREAT SINNERS RECEIVED BY CHRIST — AN 
ANECDOTE OF WHITEFIELD. 

Mr. James continued, It is highly encourag- 
ing to sinners who desire to come to Christ, 
but who feel a deep sense of their unworthi- 
ness, to be assured from the holy Scriptures 
that the greatest sinners, who repent of their 
sins, are welcome to him. The apostle Paul 
says, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy 
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners ; of whom I am 
chief." And after saying that he was the 
chief of sinners, he adds for the special en- 
couragement of others, " Howbeit, for this 
cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus 
Christ might show forth all long suffering, for 



154 GRACE AND GLORY. 

a pattern to them which should hereafter be- 
lieve on him to life everlasting." Other ex- 
amples are also recorded. Manasseh, the 
king, was a flagrant transgressor ; but he re- 
pented of his sins, and obtained forgiveness. 
Mary Magdalene was a great sinner ; but she 
came with a broken and contrite spirit to the 
Lord Jesus, and was graciously received and 
pardoned. The thief on the cross was a 
notorious offender, but he prayed with a pen- 
itent heart, k - Lord, remember me when thou 
contest into thy kingdom ;" and Christ bestowed 
upon him grace and salvation. 

This was wondrous grace indeed, 
Grace bestowed in time of need ; 
Sinners, trust in Jesus" name, 
You shall find him still the same. 

A small volume, entitled. Lady Huntingdon 
and her Friends, contains an anecdote of the 
celebrated George Whitefield, which is another 
illustration of the abounding grace of Christ. 
You may take the book and read it. Henry 
read as follows : Some ladies called one Sat- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 155 

urday morning to pay a visit to Lady Hunt- 
ingdon, and during the visit, her ladyship in- 
quired of them if they had ever heard Mr. 
Whitefield preach. Upon being answered in 
the negative, she said, "I wish you would 
hear him ; he is to preach to-morrow evening." 
They promised her ladyship they would cer- 
tainly attend. They fulfilled their promise ; 
and when they called the next Monday morn- 
ing on her ladyship, she anxiously inquired if 
they had heard Mr. "Whitefield on the previous 
evening, and how they liked him. The reply 
was, " Oh, my lady, of all the preachers we 
have ever heard, he is the most strange 
and unaccountable. Among other preposter- 
ous things, (would your ladyship believe it ? ) he 
declared that Jesus Christ was so willing to re- 
ceive sinners, that he did not object to receive 
even the devil's castaways. Now, my lady, 
did you ever hear of such a thing since you 
were born?' , To which her ladyship made 
the following reply : " There is something, I 
acknowledge, a little singular in the invitation, 
and I do not recollect ever to have met with 



156 GRACE AND GLORY. 

it before ; but as Mr. Whitefield is below in 
the parlour, we will have him- up, and let him 
answer for himself." 

Upon his coming up into the drawing room, 
Lady Huntingdon said, "Mr. Whitefield, these 
ladies have been preferring a heavy charge 
against you, and I thought it best that you 
should come up and defend yourself. They 
say, that in your sermon last evening, in 
speaking of the willingness of Jesus Christ to 
receive sinners, you expressed yourself in the 
following terms : ' That so ready was Christ to 
receive sinners who came to him, that he was 
willing to receive even the devil's castaways.' " 
Mr. Whitefield immediately replied, "I cer- 
tainly, my lady, must plead guilty to the 
charge; whether I did what was right, or 
otherwise, your ladyship shall judge from the 
following circumstances. Did your ladyship 
notice, about half an hour ago, a very modest 
single rap at the door ? It was given by a 
poor, miserable looking, aged female, who re- 
quested to speak with me. I desired her to 
be shown into the parlour, when she accosted 



GRACE AND GLORY. 157 

me in the following manner: 'I believe, sir, 
you preached last evening at such a chapel.' 
4 Yes, I did.' 'Ah, sir, I was accidentally 
passing the door of that chapel, and hearing 
the voice of some one preaching, I did what I 
never had been in the habit of doing — I went 
in ; and one of the first things I heard you 
say, was, that Jesus Christ was so willing to 
receive sinners, that he did not object to re- 
ceive the devil's castaways. Do you think, 
sir, that Jesus Christ would receive me V ' 
Mr. Whitefield answered her there was not a 
doubt of it, if she was but willing to go to him. 
This was the case ; it ended in the conversion 
of the poor creature to God. When she died, 
she left highly satisfactory evidence that her 
great and numerous sins had been forgiven, 
through the atonement of the Lord Jesus. 

FREE GRACE, AND FREE SALVATION. 

Mr. James remarked, I will now answer a 

question, which has been suggested by these 

examples, viz., what is the meaning of the 

word jfree, when applied to this subject? Ar- 
14 



158 GRACE AND GLORY. 

minian preachers sometimes convey the idea 
that they alone preach free grace, and free 
salvation, and that Calvinists cannot do this 
consistently with their principles. The fact is, 
however, that the term free is especially ap- 
propriate to Calvinistic theology. It does not 
properly belong to any other system of doc- 
trine. When a favour is offered to us freely, 
the meaning is that it proceeds wholly from 
the benevolence of the donor, and that we are 
not required to pay any thing for it. This is 
the scriptural import of the phrases, "free 
grace," and " free salvation. " Thus our justifi- 
cation is declared to be free, that is, not ob- 
tained by our works, but proceeding from the 
love and mercy of God in Christ. " Being 
justified freely by his grace, through the re- 
demption that is in Christ Jesus." Again, 
"The free gift is of many offences unto justi- 
fication." In like manner, the gospel invita- 
tion is free ; that is, it offers grace and salva- 
tion to sinners, without money and without 
price. "Whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely." 



GRACE AND GLORY. 159 

I thought, father, said Henry James, that 
the word free, as used in the preaching of 
Arminian ministers, is understood by them to 
denote the universality of the gospel provision, 
in other words, that grace and salvation are 
offered equally to all. 

Mr. James replied, You are correct in your 
supposition; and it is on this ground they 
claim to preach the gospel in a more ample 
and unrestrained manner than is done by 
Calvinists. But their claim is not well founded. 
The import of the word free is given cor- 
rectly in the remarks already made; yet if 
taken in the Arminian sense of signifying 
that the door of mercy is open to all who are 
willing to enter it, no more is meant by this 
language, even by Arminians themselves, un- 
less they are Universalists, than is believed 
and preached by Calvinistic ministers. The 
Apostolic commission authorizes and com- 
mands that the gospel be preached to every 
creature; and the preaching of the gospel to 
every creature includes the offer of eternal 
life to all men ; not however to all, nor to any, 



160 GRACE AND GLORY. 

unless they repent of their sins and believe in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Evangelical Armin- 
ians agree in this particular with Calvinists ; 
and on the other hand, Calvinists agree with 
Arminians, if understood according to this 
sense, in proclaiming free grace and free sal- 
vation to the whole world. 

WHAT KIND OF SINNERS CHRIST RECEIVES. 

Henry James remarked, I recollect, father, 
you said in your sermon, that the kind of sin- 
ners whom Christ receives, were those who 
feel sensible of their sins; are humble and 
contrite for them; who confess and forsake 
their sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, as the only Saviour of sinners. 

Yes, said Mr. James, your recollection is 
accurate. These restrictions are clearly stated 
in the Bible. Unless men feel that they are 
sinners, they have no disposition to come to 
Christ. Hence he said to the Pharisees on 
another occasion, "They that are whole need 
not a physician; but they that are sick. I 
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to 



GRACE AND GLORY. 161 

repentance." But even when they feel their 
need of a Saviour, they will not come to 
Christ, until their hearts are humble and con- 
trite. Their awakened consciences, and their 
fears of future misery urge them towards the 
cross ; but pride holds them back. The gospel 
remedy is a system of grace ; and therefore, 
in order to its reception, sinners must have 
broken and contrite spirits, without which they 
will not consent to be debtors to the free, un- 
merited mercy of God. 

By confessing sin, I did not mean auricular 
confession, i. e., confession in the ear of a 
priest, as practised by Roman Catholics ; but 
confession to God. "He that covereth his 
sins shall not prosper ; but whoso confesseth 
and forsaketh shall find mercy/ ' A sincere 
and hearty confession will be followed by a 
turning from sin unto God. This was noticed 
in our last conversation, in describing evan- 
gelical repentance. It is the gospel condition 
of divine acceptance. I also described faith 
in Christ, in a previous conversation. Faith 

is the act of coming to Christ ; and those who 
14* 



162 GRACE AND GLORY. 

come to him lie receives. Thus he says, " Him 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." 
These several qualifications are distinctly 
mentioned in the Bible as necessary requisites 
to their being received by Christ, without 
which they can have no saving interest in the 
gospel provision. But all who really possess 
these feelings are welcomed to the privilege 
of his pardoning love, however great or 
numerous may have been their past sins. Ac- 
cordingly we may truly say in the words of 
one of our hymns, 

Sinners, to Jesus then draw near, 

Invited by his word ; 
The chief of sinners need not fear ; 

Behold the Lamb of God ! 

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

Henry James inquired whether there is 
not one sin for which there is no forgiveness. 
I think, father, you alluded to the unpardona- 
ble sin, in a discourse which I heard you 
preach not long ago. Please state your views 
on this subject. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 163 

Mr. James replied, The occasion on -which 
Christ mentioned this sin, was his bein^ 
charged by the Pharisees with casting out 
devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 
See Matt. xii. 22—32. " Wherefore 1 say 
unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy 
shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy 
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven 
unto- men. And whosoever speaketh a word 
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven 
him : but whosoever speaketh against the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this world, neither in the world to 
come.' , The same words, in substance, occur 
in Mark and Luke. Dr. J. A. Alexander, in 
his commentary on Mark iii. 30., "Because 
they said, He hath an unclean spirit, " gives 
a satisfactory exposition of what is meant 
by the unpardonable sin. You may read his 
exposition. 

Henry read as follows : " Lest there should 
be any doubt as to the bearing of this fearful 
sentence, [hath never forgiveness, but is in 
danger of eternal damnation,] Mark specific- 



164 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ally mentions what occasioned it, only ex- 
changing the name Beelzebub for unclean 
spirit, which is really its meaning. It appears 
then, that in charging him with being thus 
possessed, they either did commit, or were in 
danger of committing, the unpardonable sin 
of blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. It 
cannot consist therefore in mere obstinate un- 
belief or final impenitence, for these are charge- 
able on all who perish, and could not be de- 
scribed in such terms as a peculiar sin distin- 
guished from all others, and according to 
Matthew (xii. 31.), even from the sin of 
speaking a word against the Son of God. 
There are two other explanations which have 
been extensively received and are entitled to 
attention. One of these is founded upon 
Matthew's statement, and supposes a distinc- 
tion between Jesus, as the Son of man, i. e., 
a divine person in the form of a servant, 
(Phil. ii. 7.), and under that disguise, lia- 
ble to be mistaken, so that men might speak 
against him and blaspheme him, not indeed 
without aggravated guilt, but without incurring 



GRACE AND GLORY. 165 

this tremendous condemnation ; and on the 
other hand Jesus, as the Son of God, with the 
manifest tokens of divinity afforded by his 
miracles of mercy. But as this does not ac- 
count for the Holy Spirit being put in opposi- 
tion to the Son of man, and as Mark omits 
this opposition altogether, most interpreters 
agree that the unpardonable sin consists in 
obstinate rejection of the truth, and wilful 
apostasy from God, in opposition to one's own 
convictions, and with malignant hatred of the 
gospel, the expression of which is blasphemy 
against the Holy Ghost, as the illuminating 
Spirit by whom truth is carried home to the 
heart and understanding of believers, and to 
whom such apostasy and unbelief are therefore 
more especially insulting/ ' 

Mr. James remarked, If this exposition be 
correct, ( and I think it is,) " The unpardon- 
able sin consists in obstinate rejection of the 
truth, and wilful apostasy from God, in oppo- 
sition to one's own convictions, and with the 
malignant hatred of the gospel, the expression 
of which is blasphemy against the Holy 



166 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Ghost." It is an awful thing for a sinner to 
be in such a state, more terrible than any 
other evil which can befall him this side of 
hell. And for aught I know to the contrary, 
this sin may be committed now, as well as in 
the time of Christ. But it is important to 
notice, in addition to the above description of 
this sin, that the malignant feelings and blas- 
phemous words against the gospel in which 
this sin consists, leave the person who has 
committed it in a condition of religious insen- 
sibility and hardness of heart ; and hence those 
who fear and tremble lest they themselves may 
have committed this sin, may reasonably infer 
that they are mistaken. If they are anxious 
about their souls, and are endeavouring to 
seek an interest in Christ, they may be as- 
sured that however heinous their sins may be- 
they are not guilty of the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost ; and that if they truly re- 
pent, they will obtain divine forgiveness. 

EXPERIENCE OF JOHN BUNYAN. 

Henry James remarked, I am reading the 



GRACE AXD GLORY. 167 

works of John Bunyan, which you presented 
me, commencing with his life written by him- 
self. It is entitled, " Grace abounding to the 
chief of sinners.' ' I have often thought of it 
during this conversation, because he was so 
remarkable an illustration of abounding grace. 
He was indeed a great sinner, and he feared 
for a long time that he had committed the un- 
pardonable sin. He was also tempted to 
think so, even after he had believed himself to 
be a Christian, and had experienced consider- 
able religious comfort. Shall I read a page 
or two, father, from this book ? 

Consent being given, he read as follows : 
" After the Lord had given me such strong 
consolation, and blessed evidence from heaven, 
touching my interest in his love through 
Christ, the tempter came upon me again, and 
that with a more grievous and dreadful tempta- 
tion than before. 

" And that was, to sell and part with this 
most blessed Christ, to exchange him for the 
things of this life, for any thing. The tempta- 
tion lay upon me for the space of a year, and 



168 GRACE AND GLORY. 

did follow me so continually, that I was not 
rid of it one day in a month ; not sometimes 
one hour in many days together, unless when 
I was asleep. In labouring to resist this 
wickedness, my very body would be put into 
action or motion, by way of pushing or thrust- 
ing with my hands or elbows; and answering, 
as fast as the destroyer said, 'Sell him,' 'I 
will not, I will not; no, not for thousands, 
thousands, thousands of worlds.' 

" Then began I with sad and careful heart, 
to consider of the nature and largeness of my 
sin, and to search into the word of God, if I 
could in any place espy a word of promise, or 
any encouraging sentence, by which I might 
take a relief. Wherefore I began to consider 
that of Mark, 'All manner of sins and 
blasphemies shall be forgiven unto the sons 
of men wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme.' 
Which place, methought, did contain a large 
and glorious promise for the pardon of high 
offences; but considering the place more fully, 
I thought it was rather to be understood, as 
relating more chiefly to those who had, while 



GRACE AND GLORY. 169 

in a natural state, committed such things as 
are there mentioned ; but not to me, who had 
not only received light and mercy, but that 
had both after, and also contrary to that, so 
slighted Christ as I had done. 

" I feared therefore that this wicked sin of 
mine might be that sin unpardonable, of 
which he there thus speak eth, 'But he that 
shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath 
never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal 
damnation.' And I did the rather give 
credit to this, because of that sentence in the 
Hebrews, 'For ye know how that after- 
wards, when he would have inherited the 
blessing, he was rejected; for he found no 
place of repentance, though he sought it care- 
fully with tears.' 

" And now was I both a burden and a terror 

to myself; nor did I so ever know, as now, 

what it was to be weary of my life, and yet 

afraid to die. Oh ! how gladly now would I 

have been any body but myself! anything but 

a man, and in any condition but my own ! for 

there was nothing did pass more frequently 
15 



170 GRACE AND GLORY. 

over my mind, than that it was impossible for 
me to be forgiven my transgression, and to be 
saved from the wrath to come. 

" I found it a hard work now to pray to God, 
because despair was swallowing me up; I 
thought I was as with a tempest driven away 
from God ; for always when I cried to God for 
mercy, this would come in: 'Tis too late, I am 
lost, God hath let me fall, not to my correc- 
tion, but my condemnation; my sin is un- 
pardonable ; and know concerning Esau, how 
that after he had sold his birthright, he would 
have received the blessing but was rejected. 

" Once as I was walking to and fro in a good 
man's shop, bemoaning myself in a sad and 
doleful state, greatly fearing that I should 
not be pardoned ; praying also in my heart, 
that if this sin of mine did differ from that 
against the Holy Ghost, the Lord would show 
it me; and being now ready to sink with 
fear, suddenly there was the noise of a wind 
upon me, but very pleasant, and as if I heard 
a voice speaking, ' Didst thou ever refuse to 
be justified by the blood of Christ?' And 



GRACE AND GLORY. 171 

withal, my whole life of profession past, was 
in a moment opened to me, wherein I was 
made to see, that designedly I had not; so 
my heart answered groaningly, 'No.' Then 
fell with power, that word of God upon me, 
4 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.' 
This made a strange seizure upon my spirit ; 
it brought light with it, and commanded a 
silence in my heart, of all those tumultuous 
thoughts, that did before use, like masterless 
hell hounds, to roar and bellow, and make an 
hideous noise within me. It showed me also 
that Jesus Christ had yet a word of grace 
and mercy for me, and that notwithstanding 
my sins, and the heinousness of them, I 
might venture my salvation upon the Son 
of God. It was as if an angel had come 
upon me ; it commanded a great calm in my 
soul." 

When Henry had read these extracts from 
the life of Bunyan, Mr. James remarked, 
This interesting narrative shows several things. 
One is, that an apprehension of having com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin, is sometimes ( I 



172 GRACE AND GLORY. 

do not say always) a temptation of the devil, 
which, like other temptations, ought to be re-: 
sisted, and prayed against, with earnestness 
and perseverance. A second is, that the ques- 
tion, whether a sin is unpardonable, must be 
determined, not only by the nature of the 
act, but also by the state of mind in which it 
is performed. As it is essential to the crime 
of murder that the deed should be intentional, 
and with malice prepense, so it is essential to 
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, that 
it be uttered, not from a sudden impulse of 
fear, or outward temptation, like Peter's de- 
nial of his Lord, but in a deliberate manner, 
and with a malicious spirit, like Judas, when 
he betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. 
A third is, that all sins, however flagrant, if 
truly repented of, are pardonable. Judas in- 
deed repented, but not truly. His sorrow 
was not a godly sorrow, but a remorse of con- 
science which drove him to despair and suicide. 
The greatest sinners who feel their sins to be 
a burden, and sincerely desire to be delivered 
from them, have scriptural grounds for believ- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 173 

ing that their condition is not hopeless. In- 
stead of troubling themselves about the unpar- 
donable sin, let them be encouraged to come 
to Christ, whose blood cleanseth from all sin. 

Mr. James further said, I had marked sev- 
eral places in the Life of John Bunyan, which 
I designed to have you read, illustrating by 
his own happy experience the significant title 
which you have already mentioned ; "Grace 
abounding to the chief of sinners." This 
title was prefixed by Bunyan himself, and with 
a view of expressing his own feelings concern- 
ing the wonderful grace of God in calling such 
a sinner as he was, from his evil and ruinous 
ways, into the path of eternal life. But the 
time appropriated to our present conversation 
will not allow of more than a single one of 
these extracts. This shall be an account of 
his gracious deliverance from his distressed and 
troubled state of mind. Accordingly Henry 
read as follows : 

"It would be too long here to stay to tell 

you in particular, how God did set me down 

in all the things of Christ, and how he did, 
15* 



174 GRACE AND GLORY. 

that he might do so, lead me into his words ; 
yea, and how he did open them unto me, and 
make them shine before me, and cause them 
to dwell with me, talk with me, and comfort 
me over and over, both of his own being, and 
the being of his Son, and Spirit, and word, 
and gospel. 

" Only this, as I said before, I will say unto 
you again, that in general, he was pleased to 
take this course with me ; first to suffer me to 
be afflicted with temptations concerning them, 
and then reveal them unto me ; as some- 
times I should lie under great guilt for sin, 
even crushed to the ground therewith ; and 
then the Lord would show me the death of 
Christ, yea, so sprinkle my conscience with 
his blood, that I should find, and that before 
I was aware, that in that conscience, where 
but just now did reign and rage the law, even 
there would rest and abide the peace and love 
of God, through Christ. 

" Now I had an evidence, as I thought, of my 
salvation, from heaven, with many golden seals 
thereon, all hanging in my sight. I thought 



GRACE AND GLORY. 175 

that I loved Christ dearly ; that my affections 
cleaved unto him. Now could I remember 
this manifestation, and the other discovery of 
grace, with comfort; and would often long 
and desire that the last day were come, that I 
might be for ever inflamed with the sight, and 
joy, and communion with Him, whose head 
was crowned with thorns, whose face was spit 
upon, and body broken, and soul made an of- 
fering for sin : for whereas before I lay at 
the mouth of hell, now methought I was got 
so far therefrom, that when I looked back, I 
could scarcely discern it." 

Mr. James remarked, It was after this time, 
that Mr. Bunyan was assaulted by those awful 
temptations concerning which you first read, 
when he feared he had committed the unpar- 
donable sin. This shows that God's children 
are sometimes tempted of the devil. It is 
very distressing to the soul to be harassed in 
this way ; but it is not an evidence that a per- 
son is not a Christian, unless he willingly 
yields to the temptation. If he willingly 
yields to it, he shows thereby that his heart 



176 GRACE AND GLORY. 

is not fortified by divine grace ; in other words, 
that he has not been renewed by the Holy 
Spirit. Faith in Christ will influence the be- 
liever to resist the devil ; and sooner or later, 
God will open a way for his escape. 

Henry James now inquired, Will you not 
say something, father, concerning the benefits 
which penitent sinners enjoy, from their being 
received by Christ ? 

His father replied, This point formed a part 
of my sermon this morning, and it properly 
belongs to the subject on which we are con- 
versing. But as our conversation has been 
sufficiently long, I shall defer a notice of 
these benefits till another time. I will simply 
remark, at present, that Christ's unbounded 
willingness to receive penitent sinners is itself 
a strong motive to influence them to seek his 
favour. The anxious soul, under a sense of 
guilt and unworthiness, often asks itself doubt- 
ingly, Shall I be welcome, if I come to Christ, 
or be rejected by him ? Oh, if I could be 
assured that he would receive me, how quickly 
and gratefully would I come ! Let all such 



GRACE AND GLORY. 177 

know, that though they may be the chief of 
sinners, they are welcome to Christ, and let 
them come to him and receive from his fulness 
those spiritual and everlasting blessings which 
are treasured up in him, for the benefit of his 
people. In the words of another, " The 
fountain of mercy rises in the Godhead, flows 
in the channel of the atonement, and is open 
for the most unworthy ; none can change its 
course, dry up its streams, or have a right to 
impose any conditions ; the poorer the wretch, 
the more welcome here." 

Mr. James concluded by saying, The sub- 
ject of our next conversation will be Adoption, 
under which it will be appropriate to notice 
the benefits of being received by Christ. Me- 
ditate on this subject, Henry, and be pre- 
pared to explain the nature and privileges of 
being a child of God! 



178 GBACE AND GLORY. 



CONVERSATION V. 

ADOPTION, OR GRACE CONSTITUTING CON- 
VERTED SINNERS CHILDREN OF GOD. 

On the succeeding Sabbath evening, Mr. 
James asked Henry whether he had taken 
time during the week to meditate on the sub- 
ject of Adoption. 

Yes, sir, said Henry, and also to read 
something about it, particularly in the Bible, 
and the exposition of the catechism. But I 
do not feel prepared, father, to explain the 
subject, though I have studied it sufficiently, 
I trust, to be an intelligent learner. 

Well, Henry, said Mr. James, I am glad 
you have given your attention to this subject. 
It is an important doctrine, and ought to be 
better understood, and more highly appre- 
ciated, than it seems to be by some persons. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 179 

Sou may first answer the question, What is 
adoption ? 

Henry responded in the words of the cate- 
chism : Adoption is an act of God's free grace, 
whereby we are received into the number, and 
have a right to all the privileges, of the sons 
of God. 

Mr. James remarked, This answer contains 
three clauses. The first is, Adoption is an 
act of God's free grace. Have you learned a 
proof text to show this ? 

Henry answered, "Behold, what manner 
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, 
that we should be called the sons of God !" 

Very well, said Mr James: The second 
clause is, that we are received by adoption 
into the number of God's children. Can 
you repeat a text on this point ? 

Henry replied, "As many as received him, 
[ Christ,] to them gave he power to become 
the sons of God, even to them that believe on 
his name." 

The third clause is, continued Mr. James, 
that in adoption we have a right to all the 



180 GRACE AND GLORY. 

privileges of the sons of God. What Scrip- 
ture can you repeat, touching this particular ? 

Henry said, The Bible mentions several 
privileges, and these are not all found, I think 
in any single text. One is that if we are 
God's children, we have freedom and confi- 
dence in approaching him as our Father. 
" Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth 
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, 
Abba, Father.' ' Another is that we are 
heirs of heaven. "If children, then heirs; 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ/ ' 

Mr. James commended Henry for his 
prompt and appropriate answers, which af- 
forded such good evidence that he had at- 
tended diligently to his father's request to 
study the subject. This brief outline, said he, 
brings before us, in a satisfactory manner, the 
chief points belonging to this doctrine, for the 
more full explanation of which I shall make 
such remarks and illustrations as may serve, 
I trust, to give you a still clearer, and more 
extended knowledge of this delightful doctrine. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 181 

THE NATURE OF ADOPTION EXPLAINED AND 
ILLUSTRATED. 

Adoption, continued Mr. James, is the act 
of making and treating a child of another 
person, as our own. This may be done from 
friendship to the parents of such child; or 
from love to the child himself, who may be 
remarkably amiable; or it may be done to 
perpetuate the name of the individual who 
performs the act, on account of his having no 
child of his own. In this last case the adopted 
child drops his former name, and assumes the 
name of the person who adopts him ; and in 
all cases of adoption, the adopted children 
have a share in the estates of those who thus 
make them members of their families. 

Our first parents were children of God by 

creation ; but by the fall they lost their happy 

standing in God's family, and were subjected 

to the fearful curse of being excluded from 

his presence and favour. All mankind were 

involved in that curse. Being born with a 

depraved and sinful nature, and under the 
16 



182 GRACE AND GLORY. 

sentence of condemnation, they are called in 
Scripture, "the children of wrath." "But 
when the fulness of the time was come, God 
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made 
under the law, to redeem them that were un- 
der the law, that we might receive the adoption 
of sons." The meritorious ground of their 
adoption, as we are here taught, is the re- 
demption purchased by Christ, who became a 
curse for them, and redeemed them from the 
curse of the law. As the fruit of his death, 
the Holy Spirit was given to work faith in 
their hearts, and thereby unite them to Christ 
in their effectual calling; and those who are 
effectually called, or, in other words, who are 
born again, by the regenerating power of the 
Holy Spirit, he adopts or re-instates into his 
family, and gives them the disposition, the 
name, and the privileges of the sons of God. 

Henry. Do you say, father, that adoption 
confers a new disposition ? My grandfather 
once adopted a little girl ; but I did not per- 
ceive that she was any different in her temper 
afterwards from what she was before. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 183 

Mr. James. The communication of a new 
character, with a filial disposition, which pre- 
cedes or accompanies divine adoption, is unlike 
any thing known among men. It is above 
human power, and is therefore a peculiarity 
which belongs only to the kingdom of grace. 
Thus in that text, a part of which you quoted, 
regeneration and adoption are connected to- 
gether. " As many as received him, to them 
gave he power to become the sons of God, 
even to them that believe on his name : which 
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the 
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
The first act of the soul, consequent on this 
new birth is receiving Christ ; and the power 
or privilege to become the sons of God, is be- 
stowed in immediate connection with this act 
of faith. 

Mr. James continued, As an illustration of 
the nature of adoption, I will describe briefly 
an impressive scene which I witnessed some 
years ago, at the reception of about twenty 
young persons into the communion of the 
church. The minister's text was taken from 



184 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Gal. iv. 5, "which I have just repeated to you, 
ending with the words, " that we might receive 
the adoption of sons. ,, He dwelt considerably 
on adoption. He noticed the adoption of 
Moses by Pharaoh's daughter, and of Esther 
by Mordecai. These two, he said, referred 
directly to temporal matters, though their 
consequences were eternal. He alluded also 
to the adoption of the Israelites, of whom God 
said, " Israel is my son, even my first born," 
in allusion to which Paul said, " To whom per- 
taineth the adoption." This conferred pecu- 
liar religious privileges, which however were 
rather external than internal, and which per- 
tained to them collectively rather than in- 
dividually, but were typical of that higher 5 
spiritual adoption which belongs to all the true 
Israel of God. 

The preacher then noticed the adoption of 
the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manas- 
seh, by the patriarch Jacob, recorded in Gen, 
xlviii. 5; with Mathew Henry's comments on 
the same. The words contain, says Henry, 
44 an express reception of Joseph's sons into 



GRACE AND GLORY. 185 

his family. 'Thy sons are mine; not only 
my grandchildren, but as my own children.' 
Though they were born in Egypt, and their 
father was then separated from his brethren, 
which seemed to have cut them off from the 
heritage of the Lord, yet Jacob takes them in, 
and owns them for visible church members. 
He explains it (v. 16), 'Let my name be 
named upon them, and the name of my fathers; 5 
as if he had said, ' Let them not succeed their 
father in his power and grandeur here in 
Egypt ; but let them succeed me in the inherit- 
ance of the promise made to Abraham,' which 
Jacob looked upon as much more valuable and 
honourable, and would have them to prize and 
covet accordingly. Thus the aged, dying 
patriarch teaches these young persons, now 
that they were come of age, (being about 
twenty-one years old,) not to look upon Egypt 
as their own, nor to incorporate themselves 
with the Egyptians, but to take their lot with 
the people of God, as Moses afterward in the 
like temptation. Heb. xi. 24 — 26. And be- 
cause it would be a piece of self-denial in them, 
16* 



186 GRACE AND GLORY. 

who stood so fair for preferment in Egypt, to 
adhere to the despised Hebrews, to encourage 
them, he constitutes each of them the head of 
a tribe. Those are worthy of double honour, 
who, through God's grace, break through the 
temptations of worldly wealth, and preferment, 
to embrace religion in disgrace and poverty. 
Jacob will have Ephraim and Manasseh to 
believe, that it is better to be low, and in the 
church, than high, and out of it; that to 
be called by the name of 'poor Jacob/ is 
better than to be called by the name of ' rich 
Joseph.' " 

These thoughts, said Mr. James, were ex- 
panded by the preacher, and applied to his 
hearers in a feeling and impressive manner ; 
particular mention being made of the twenty 
young converts who were on that day to pro- 
fess their faith in Christ, and to declare their 
filial love and obedience to God, their heavenly 
Father. The concluding hymn was appro- 
priate and touching. The whole congregation 
seemed to be moved while it was sung. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 187 

Sovereign of all the worlds on high, 

Allow our humble claim ; 
Nor while poor worms would raise their heads, 

Disdain a Father's name. 

Our Father God ! how sweet the sound ! 

How tender, and how dear ! 
Not all the melody of heaven 

Could so delight the ear. 

Come, sacred Spirit, seal the name 

On my expanding heart ; 
And show, that in Jehovah's grace 

I share a filial part. 

Cheered by a signal so divine 

Unwavering, I believe ; 
Thou knowest, I, Abba, Father, cry, 

Nor can thy word deceive. 

EVIDENCES OF ADOPTION. EXPERIENCE OF 
RICHARD BAXTER. 

Henry James expressed much satisfaction 
with his father's remarks, and especially his 
narrative concerning the young converts ; and 
then said. Please, father, state some of the 
evidences by which a person may know that 
he is a child of God, and also whether he can 



188 GRACE AND GLORY. 

be so fully assured of this fact, as to have no 
doubt of his filial relation. 

Mr. James replied, The evidences of a per- 
son's being a child of God, are substantially 
the same as those of his having been con- 
verted. Our remarks, therefore, on regenera- 
tion and conversion, may be applied to this 
subject. As I have already said, those who 
are born again, possess from that moment the 
character of God's children, and then by a 
divine act called adoption, they are consti- 
tuted members of his family. But the evi- 
dences of this change are often developed 
gradually. As an illustration of this fact, and 
also as an answer to your question, — what 
these evidences are, you may read some ex- 
tracts from the christian experience of that 
remarkable man, the Rev. Richard Baxter, 
author of the Call to the Unconverted, and 
the Saint's Everlasting Rest. Henry read 
those passages which his father had marked, 
beginning with his early life, as follows : 

Richard Baxter was born at Rowton, Shrop- 
shire, England, Nov. 12, 1615. He was the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 189 

only son of a pious father, who taught him in 
early life to read the holy Scriptures. "At 
first/' says he, in the History of his own Life 
and Times, "my father set me to read the 
historical parts of the Scriptures, which suit- 
ing with my nature, greatly delighted me ; and 
though all that time I neither understood nor 
relished much the doctrinal part, and mystery 
of redemption, yet it did me good, by acquaint- 
ing me with the matters of fact, and drawing 
me on to love the Bible, and to search by de- 
grees into the rest. 

" But though my conscience would trouble 
me when I sinned, yet divers sins I was ad- 
dicted to, and often committed against my 
conscience, . . . and for which, in my 
childhood, conscience troubled me for a great 
while before they were overcome/ ' . . . 

" When about fifteen years of age, it 
pleased God of his wonderful mercy, to open 
my eyes with a clearer insight into the con- 
cerns and case of my own soul, and to touch 
my heart with a livelier feeling of things spir- 
itual than ever I had found before. In read- 



190 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ing a book, entitled, 'Bunyan's Resolutions,' 
which a poor man in the town lent my father, 
it pleased God to awaken my soul, and show 
me the folly of sinning, and the misery of the 
wicked, and the inexpressible weight of things 
eternal, and the necessity of resolving on a 
holy life, more than I ever was acquainted 
with before. The same things which I knew 
before, came now in another manner, with 
light, and sense, and seriousness to my heart. 
" Yet whether sincere conversion began now, 
or before, or after, I was never able to this day 
to know ; for I had before had some love to 
the things and people which were good, and a 
restraint from other sins, except those before 
mentioned ; and so much from those that I sel- 
dom committed most of them, and when I did, 
it was with great reluctance. And both now 
and formerly, I knew that Christ was the only 
Mediator, by whom we must have pardon, 
justification, and life : but even at that time, 
I had little lively sense of the love of God in 
Christ to the world or me, nor of my special 
need of him. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 191 

"About this time, it pleased God that a poor 
pedlar came to the door, that had ballads 
and some good books, and my father bought 
of him, Dr. Sibbes's ' Bruised Reed/ This also 
I read, and found it suited to my taste, and 
seasonable to me ; which opened more the love 
of God to me, and gave me a livelier appre- 
hension of the mystery of redemption, and 
how much I was beholden to Jesus Christ. 
After this, we had a servant that had a little 
piece of Mr. Perkins's works, ' Of Repentance,' 
and the right 'Art of Living and Dying Well,' 
and the k Government of the Tongue ;' and 
the reading of that did further inform me, 
and confirm me. And thus without any means 
but books, was God pleased to resolve me for 
himself. .... 

" Being in expectation of death by a violent 
cough, with spitting of blood, &c, of two years' 
continuance, supposed to be a deep degree 
of consumption, I was yet more awakened to 
be serious, and solicitous about my soul's fu- 
ture state ; and I came so short of that sense 
and seriousness, which a matter of such infin- 



192 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ite weight required, that I was many years in 
doubt of my sincerity, and thought I had no 
spiritual life at all. I wondered at the sense- 
less hardness of my heart, that I could think 
and talk of sin and hell, and Christ, and 
grace, of God and heaven, with no more feel- 
ing. I cried out from day to day for grace 
against this senseless deadness. I called my- 
self the most hard-hearted sinner, that could 
feel nothing at all that I knew and talked of. 
I was not then sensible of the incomparable 
excellence of holy love, and delight in God, 
nor much employed in thanksgiving and 
praise ; but all my groans were for more con- 
trition, and a broken heart, and I prayed 
most for tears and tenderness 

" Thus was I long kept with the calls of 
approaching death at one ear, and the ques- 
tionings of a doubtful conscience at the other ; 
and since then I have found that this method 
of God's was very wise, and no other was so 
likely to have tended to my good. These 
benefits of it I sensibly perceived. 

" 1. It made me vile and loathsome to myself, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 193 

and made pride one of the most hateful sins 
in the world to me 

" 2. It much restrained me from that sport- 
ful levity and vanity which my nature and 
youthfulness did much incline me to 

" 3. It made the doctrine of redemption the 
more savoury to me, and my thoughts of Christ 
to be more serious and regardful, than be- 
fore they were 

"4. It made the world seem to me as a car- 
cass that had neither life nor loveliness, and it 
destroyed that ambitious desire after literary 
fame, which was the sin of my childhood. . 

" 5. It caused me first to seek God's kingdom 
and his righteousness, and most to mind the 
one thing needful ; and to determine first of 
my ultimate end, by which I was engaged to 
choose out and prosecute all other studies but 
as meant to that end. 

"And as for those doubts of my own salva- 
tion, which exercised me many years, the chief 
causes of them were these : 

"1. Because I could not distinctly trace the 

workings of the Spirit upon my heart, in that 
17 



194 GRACE AND GLORY. 

method by which Mr. Bolton, Mr. Hooker, 
Mr. Rogers, and other divines describe ; nor 
knew the time of conversion, being wrought 
on by the forementioned degrees ' 

" 2. Because of the hardness of my heart, or 
want of such lively apprehension of things 
spiritual, which I had about things corporeal. 

" 3. Lest education and fear had done all that 
ever was done upon my soul, and regeneration 
and love were yet to seek ; because I had 
found convictions from my childhood, and 
found more fear than love in all my duties 
and restraints 

" 4. Because my grief and humiliation were 
no greater, and because I could weep no more 
for this 

" 5. Because I had, after my change, com- 
mitted some sins deliberately and knowingly. 
And be they ever so small, I thought, he that 
could sin upon knowledge and deliberation 
had no true grace ; and that, if I had as strong 
temptations to fornication, drunkenness, fraud, 
or other more heinous sins, I might also have 
committed them. And if these proved that I 



GRACE AND GLORY. 195 

had then no saving grace, after all that I had 
felt, I thought it unlikely that ever I should 
have any." 

On these several points, said Mr. James, 
Mr. Baxter expresses his own reflections and 
views, which you may read at your leisure. 
The reading of them now would protract our 
conversation beyond the usual time. You 
may, however, read a page or two more, 
stating the means by which he obtained re- 
lief. Henry accordingly read again as fol- 
lows : 

"The means by which God was pleased 
to give me some peace and comfort were : 

"1. The reading of many consolatory books. 
" 2. The observation of other men's condition. 
... In particular, it much comforted me to 
read him whom I loved, as one of the holiest 
of all the martyrs, John Bradford, subscrib- 
ing himself so often, i The hard-hearted sin- 
ner/ and i The miserable hard-hearted sinner/ 
even as I was used to do myself. 

" 3. And it much increased my peace, when 
God's providence called me to the comforting 



196 GRACE AND GLORY. 

of many others that had the same complaints. 
While I ansAvered their doubts, I answered my 
own : and the charity which I was constrained 
to exercise for them, redounded to myself, 
and insensibly abated my fears, and procured 
me an increase of quietness of mind." 

Henry paused, and Mr. James remarked 
that this was the religious experience of a 
man who became one of the most eminent 
ministers of that age. His long continued 
struggles between hope and fear, and his many 
doubts whether his conversion was genuine, 
were not essential parts of his experience, and 
must not therefore be regarded as a model for 
us. They are indeed to be avoided if it shall 
please God to grant us freedom from these 
trials. But they may nevertheless be adduced 
as an encouragement to desponding and doubt- 
ing believers, who in view of the experience 
of Baxter, may be exhorted to hope in God's 
love. Though he was so long in doubt, it is 
easy to see that his exercises of mind were 
such as indicated him to be a child of God. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 197 

He mourned over sin ; he delighted in divine 
things. 

Baxter's protracted struggles and his sub- 
sequent peace and comfort, may have been 
designed by God to prepare him the better for 
his successful labours, and cruel persecutions. 
He knew how to weep with those that wept, as 
well as to rejoice with those who rejoiced. 
His success as a minister was extraordinary ; 
but his efforts to do good were thwarted for 
ten or twelve years, by the secret abettors 
of popery, and the bigoted partisans of a 
nominal Protestant conformity. "His goods 
were distrained; his books were carried off; 
his character was traduced ; his person was 
seized; he was most brutally insulted and 
vilified in the mockery of a judicial trial ; and 
notwithstanding his age and many infirmities, 
was thrown into prison." All this was done 
on account of his religion. But like Moses, 
he " endured as seeing Him who is invisible ;" 
and as soon as he was released, he resumed 
his ministry with the same earnestness as be- 
fore, and finally closed his eventful life with 
17* 



198 GRACE AND GLORY. 

peace and triumph. He had sowed in tears ; 
he now reaped in joy. He had gone forth 
weeping, bearing precious seed ; he now entered 
heaven with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves with 
him. 

FULL ASSURANCE OF OUR ADOPTION ATTAIN- 
ABLE — THE WITNESS OF XHE HOLY SPIRIT. 

In reply to Henry's question, whether a 
person can know beyond doubt that he is a 
child of God, Mr. James remarked, that full 
assurance is attainable, and ought to be 
earnestly sought for by God's children, as a 
great and valuable privilege. " We desire that 
every one of you," says Paul, "do show the 
same diligence to the full assurance of hope." 
The full assurance of hope necessarily in- 
volves the full assurance of our adoption. The 
two are therefore essentially the same. 

On the mode of attaining this assurance I 
will refer at present only to a single text. 
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the children of God." 
Here is a twofold testimony of our adoption, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 199 

viz., the testimony of our own spirits cor- 
roborated by the testimony of God's Spirit. 
The witness or testimony of our own spirits is 
the consciousness of our being God's children, 
derived from a comparison of our religious 
experience with the description of a saving 
change of heart recorded in the Holy Scrip- 
tures. If we find that what is there stated 
concerning the exercises of God's people, ac- 
cords with our own exercises, it is a fair in- 
ference that our hearts have been renewed by 
divine grace. These exercises are not natural 
to sinful men, but wrought in them by the 
Holy Spirit. 

Some interpreters of Scripture think that 
the text I have quoted is fully explained by 
what I have now said. The Bible was indited 
by the Holy Spirit; and hence by the Spirit's 
bearing witness with our spirits they under- 
stand to be meant the Spirit in the word 
harmonizing with the inward exercises of the 
soul. In my opinion, however, the words con- 
vey the additional thought of a direct testi- 
mony of the Holy Spirit to our adoption ; not 



200 GRACE AND GLORY. 

independently of the written word, but in 
connection with it. The language of the 
Apostle seems to require us to understand the 
Holy Spirit's witness, as a direct act, and not 
as being solely through the word. And the 
context states what this witness is, as dis- 
tinguished from other evidences of conversion, 
viz., the " Spirit of adoption, whereby we 
cry Abba, Father ;" which is called elsewhere 
the " Spirit of God's Son sent forth into our 
hearts;" and again, it is described as the 
"love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the 
Holy Ghost which is given unto us." A 
person may possess a satisfactory evidence of 
having experienced a change of heart by an 
examination of the word of God; and unless 
he has this evidence, any supposed witness of 
the Spirit independently of this, and especially 
if contrary to it, would be a mere illusion. 
But he may possess this evidence without that 
full assurance which he feels when there is 
superadded thereto the spirit of adoption, 
that is, that filial feeling towards God which 
imparts a holy and happy, yet humble bold- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 201 

ness, when we come into his presence. The 
Apostle John describes this spirit under the 
phrase, "perfect love that casteth out fear.' ' 
"Herein," says he, "is our love made per- 
fect, that we may have boldness in the day 
of judgment. There is no fear in love ; but 
perfect love casteth out fear." By perfect 
love is meant here filial love, as opposed to 
what Paul calls " the spirit of bondage again 
to fear." 

At one time, continued Mr. James, I was 
absent from home for seven or eight months, 
engaged in the service of the church. When 
I returned, your little brother did not know 
me. While all the family greeted me with 
delight, he was afraid, and could not be per- 
suaded to come to me. But he kept his eyes 
on my countenance ; he listened to my voice 
and conversation ; he noticed the freedom and 
happiness manifested by others ; he heard my 
name, father, father, repeatedly uttered; until 
at length the impression of his relation to me 
was distinctly made on his mind ; and he then 
of his own accord immediately flew to my 



202 GRACE AND GLORY. 

arms. That little boy was my son before 
this ; but he did not feel the assurance of this 
fact, and hence feared to address and treat 
me as his father. And so it may be with the 
children of God. The act of adoption is not 
the same as the spirit of adoption ; and the 
former may exist without the latter. The 
act of adoption is outward and declarative ; 
the spirit of adoption is inward, a feeling of 
the heart, a persuasion, or assurance of God's 
love. 

PRIVILEGES OF ADOPTION — THE INDIAN CON- 
VERT. 

Do you remember, Henry, continued Mr. 
James, what I promised you, at the close of 
our last conversation ? 

Yes, sir, said Henry. You told me you would 
mention some of the benefits of our being re- 
ceived by Christ. 

Mr. James remarked, Several of these 
benefits are included in the answer to the 
question in the catechism, What is adoption ? 
It is an act of God's free grace, whereby we 



GRACE AND GLORY. 203 

are received into the number, and have a 
right to all the privileges of the sons of God. 
To be received into the number of God's child- 
ren is of itself a great privilege. In order 
to this, the sinner must be justified, i. e., his 
sins must be pardoned, and he must be ac- 
cepted as righteous in God's sight, through 
Christ's righteousness imputed to him. With 
this imputation of righteousness he becomes 
affiliated to God through Christ, and receives 
the name of a son. What divine condescen- 
sion and love are manifested in this appella- 
tion ! When the Danish missionaries in India 
appointed some of their Indian converts to 
translate a catechism, in which it was men- 
tioned as the privilege of Christians to become 
the sons of God, one of the translators being 
startled at what he thought so bold a saying, 
exclaimed, "It is too much ; let me rather 
render it : They shall be permitted to kiss his 
feet." 

Notice, adoption is an act, i. e., an announce- 
ment or declaration made by God, to the ef- 
fect that those who were before aliens and 



204 GRACE AND GLORY. 

strangers, are now his children. So justifica- 
tion is an act, pronouncing our sins to be for- 
given ; and in this particular it is distinguished 
from sanctification, which is a work, and con- 
sequently is gradual, L e., it is not, like justi- 
fication, completed at once. The . act of 
adoption, however, though it is a great priv- 
ilege, is only the first of a series of privileges. 
It brings us into the relation of children, and 
this relation secures an interest in all the 
blessings purchased by Christ for the people 
of God. Some of these have been mentioned. 
I will mention a few more. 

The spirit of adoption which is granted to 
God's children is a great privilege. This has 
been alluded to already in discussing the evi- 
dence of our adoption. But it ought to be 
mentioned also under the head of privileges. 
Simply to receive the name of a son would be 
an empty form, unless we could feel conscious 
of being the friends of God, and could enjoy 
free and filial intercourse with him as our Fa- 
ther. But happily this privilege is enjoyed. 
The spirit of adoption has an attractive power 



GRACE AND GLORY. 205 

which draws the soul to God, and attaches it, 
in holy delight to the bosom of divine love. 
It has also a sanctifying power, which gives 
to our filial communion with God, through 
the Holy Spirit, a constant moral force, to 
assimilate us to the divine character, and dis- 
pose and qualify us for the service of Christ. 

Thy Spirit shall unite 

Our souls to thee our Head ; 
Shall form us to thy image bright, 

That we thy paths may tread. 

SEVERAL PRIVILEGES OF ADOPTION ENUMER- 
ATED. 

Mr. James paused for a r&oment, in order 
to give Henry an opportunity to note down 
the privileges which had been enumerated. 
He wrote thus : When Christ receives a re- 
turning sinner, he forgives his sins ; and the 
sinner who is thus forgiven, is adopted into 
the family of God, has the name, spirit, and 
character of a son, is permitted to enter freely 
into God's presence, becomes more and more 

like him, and engages with filial love and sat- 
18 



206 GRACE AND GLORY. 

isfaction in his service. Having read them 
to his father, he inquired whether adoption 
does not secure still other benefits. 

Mr. James replied in the affirmative. I have 
requested you to note down these, said he, be- 
cause I had made no division of these priv- 
ileges into particular heads, and had simply 
named one or two of them without any accom- 
panying remarks, and I wished you to put 
them down together, that you might see what 
a rich cluster of heavenly jewelry had been 
already gathered up to distinguish, adorn, and 
honour the adopted child of God. 

FURTHER PRIVILEGES OF ADOPTION. 

Mr. James continued, Adoption into the 
family of God secures his kind, paternal cor- 
rection, which if rightly viewed, is a real priv- 
ilege. " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." 
. . . "Now no chastening for the present 
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: neverthe- 
less, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit 



GRACE AND GLORY. 207 

of righteousness unto them which are exercised 
thereby." 

Again, adoption secures the supporting and 
comforting presence of the Holy Spirit, in 
seasons of trial and temptation. God's child- 
ren are tried and tempted like other men. 
But they have the advantage of others in this 
important respect, that Christ has promised 
them, " I will not leave you comfortless : I 
will come to you;" and also the advantage of 
a divine promise made in the Old Testament, 
and repeated in the New; " I will never leave 
thee, nor forsake thee ;" and further, " God is 
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted 
above that ye are able ; but will with the temp- 
tation also make away to escape, that ye may 
be able to bear it." 

TEMPORAL BENEFITS OF ADOPTION — ANECDOTE 
OF HENRY J. STILLING. 

Again, adoption secures God's providential 
care over us, and the supply of our temporal 
wants. In numerous instances, a childlike 
reliance on the Lord in circumstances of need, 



208 GRACE AND GLORY. 

has been followed by remarkable interpositions 
of divine providence. One example of this 
kind now lies before me. You may open that 
book, Henry, and read it. I allude to the 
account of Henry Jung Stilling, of Germany. 
Henry James read as follows : 

In youth, Stilling was extremely poor, not 
having the ordinary comforts or even the ne- 
cessaries of life. After much anxiety and 
prayer, he felt satisfied that it was the will of 
God that he should enter a university, and 
qualify himself for the medical profession. 
He did not at first decide upon going to a uni- 
versity, but waited for an intimation from 
his heavenly Father; for as he intended to 
study simply from faith, he would not allow 
his own will in anything. Three weeks after 
he had come to this determination, a female 
friend asked him whither he intended to go. 
He replied, he did not know. " Oh," said 
she, " Mr. T. is going to Strasburg, to spend 
the winter there; go with him. ,, 

This touched Stilling's heart; he felt that 
this was the intimation he had waited for. At 



GRACE AND GLORY. 209 

that moment, Mr. T. entered the room, and 
*was pleased with the proposition. His welfare, 
as he thought, now depended on his becoming 
a physician ; and for this, a thousand dollars 
at least would be required, of which he could 
not tell where to raise a hundred. He never- 
theless fixed his confidence firmly on God, and 
reasoned as follows : 

" God begins nothing without terminating 
it gloriously. Now, it is most certainly true, 
that he alone has ordered my present circum- 
stances, entirely without my co-operation. 
Consequently, it is also most certainly true, 
that he will accomplish everything regarding 
me in a manner worthy of himself." 

He said pleasantly to his friends, who were 
as poor as himself, " I wonder from what 
quarter my heavenly Father will provide me 
money !" When they expressed anxiety, he 
said, " Believe assuredly that He who was able 
to feed a thousand people with a little bread, 
lives still, and to him I commend myself. He 
will certainly find out means. Do not be 
anxious; the* Lord will provide/ ' 
18* 



210 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Forty-six dollars was all that he could raise 
for his journey. He met unavoidable delay 
on the way; and while at Frankfort, three 
days' ride from Strasburg, he had but a single 
dollar left. He said nothing of it to any one, 
but waited for the assistance of his heavenly 
Father. As he was walking the streets, and 
praying inwardly to God, he met Mr. L., a 
merchant from the place of his residence, 
who says to him, " Stilling, what brought you 
here?" 

"I am going to Strasburg to study medi- 
cine.' ' 

"Where do you get your money to study 
with?" 

"I have a rich Father in heaven.' ' 

Mr. L. looked steadily at him, and in- 
quired, " How much money have you on 
hand?" 

" One dollar," said Stilling. 

" So," said Mr. L. " Well, I'm one of your 
Father's stewards," and handed him thirty- 
three dollars. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 211 

Stilling felt warm tears in his eyes and said, 
" I am now rich enough ; I want no more." 

This first trial so encouraged him, that he 
no longer doubted that God would help him 
through every difficulty. 

He had been but a short time in Strasburg, 
when his thirty-three dollars had again been 
reduced to one, on which account he began 
again to pray very earnestly. Just at this 
time, one morning, his room-mate, Mr. T., said 
to him, " Stilling, I believe you did not bring 
much money with you," and offered him thirty 
dollars in gold, which he gladly accepted, as 
an answer to his prayers. 

In a few months after this, the time arrived 
when he must pay the lecturer's fee, or have 
his name struck from the list of students. 
The money was to be paid by six o'clock on 
Thursday evening. Thursday morning came, 
and he had no money, and no means of getting 
any. The day was spent in prayer. Five 
o'clock in the evening came, and* yet there 
was no money. His faith began almost to 
fail; he broke out into a perspiration; his 



212 GRACE AND GLORY. 

face was wet with tears. Some one knocked 
at the door. " Come in," said he. It was 
Mr. R., the gentleman of whom he had rented 
the room. 

"I called," said Mr. R. "to see how you 
like your room." 

"Thank you," said Stilling, "I like it very 
much." 

Said Mr. R., " I thought I would ask you 
one other question; have you brought any 
money with you?" 

Stilling says he now felt like Habakkuk 
when the angel took him by the hair of the 
head to carry him to Babylon. He answered, 
"No ; I have no money." 

Mr. R. looked at him with surprise, and at 
length said, " I see how it is ; God has sent 
me to help you." 

He immediately left the room, and soon re- 
turned with forty dollars in gold. 

Stilling says he then felt like Daniel in the 
lions' den, when Habakkuk brought him 
food. He threw himself on the floor, and 
thanked God with tears. He then went to 




He soon returned with forty dollars in gold. Page 212 



GRACE AND GLORY. 213 

the college and paid his fee as well as the 
best. 

When Henry had read this narrative, he 
said, with deep emotion, How true it is, father, 
that godliness hath the promise of the life 
that now is, as well as that which is to come J 
A person will be a great gainer even in this 
world by becoming a child of God. 

THE CROWNING PRIVILEGE OF ADOPTION IS 
ETERNAL GLORY. 

True, said Mr. .James, godliness hath the 
promise of the life which now is. But though 
the enjoyment of temporal good is valuable, 
it is scarcely to be named in comparison with 
those future and eternal benefits which are se- 
cured by adoption. " If children, then heirs ; 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." 
This is the crowning privilege of believers. 
It secures their perseverance in grace to the 
end of life, the resurrection of their bodies, and 
a glorious immortality, in the presence of God 
and the Lamb. I have not sufficient time now 
to converse with you concerning that glory ; 



214 GRACE AND GLORY. 

but I will resume the subject hereafter. I 
will merely remark at present that its ultimate 
possession is rendered certain to God's chil- 
dren, by the double assurance that he will not 
withdraw his love from them, nor leave them 
to lose their love to him, until grace is per- 
fected in glory. "Having loved his own, he 
loved them unto the end;" and his love to his 
people secures their perseverance in the divine 
life until they enter heaven. 

They go from strength to strength, 
Through this dark vale of tears, 
Till each arrives at length, 
Till each in heaven appears ; 

glorious seat, 
When God our King shall thither bring 
Our willing feet. 

OBLIGATIONS INVOLVED IN ADOPTION. 

How great, continued Mr. James, are the 
obligations involved in adoption! It is an 
act of God's free grace. There was no good- 
ness in us to merit such a favour. This ac- 
counts for the fact that the text you quoted 
to show the nature of adoption, has the form 



GRACE AND GLORY. 215 

of an exclamation, expressive of wonder and 
surprise. " Behold, what manner of love the 
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should 
be called the sons of God!" The contempla- 
tion of this love takes us back to the love of 
God in sending his Son into the world to die 
for us, to the love of the Son in offering him- 
self a sacrifice for sin, and to the love of the 
Holy Spirit in renewing our hearts, and draw- 
ing us cordially and sweetly to the Saviour, 
as the fountain of grace and mercy. The 
gospel call to sinners to come to Christ is a 
proclamation of divine love, and every subse- 
quent act of God in us and for us, until we are 
constituted and declared to be his children, is 
an act of love. All who believe in Christ 
ought therefore to feel and act like Paul, 
whose language was, "The love of Christ 
constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that 
if one died for all, then were all dead; and 
that he died for all, that they which live should 
not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto 
Him which died for them, and rose again." 
Henry said, I have often thought of this, 



216 GRACE AND GLORY. 

father, and I endeavour to adopt as my own 
the last line of some verses which I am fond 
of repeating, because they describe so truly 
my religious experience. 

I heard the voice of Jesus say, 

Behold, I freely give 
The living water ; thirsty one, 

Stoop down aud drink and live. 

I came to Jesns, and I drank 

Of that life-giving stream ; 
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, 

And now I live to him. 

I am gratified, said Mr. James, to hear you 
speak thus. To whom should we devote the 
service of our heart and lives, if not to Christ 
who bought us with his blood; and to the 
Holy Spirit who applied that blood to the 
cleansing of our polluted souls ; and to God 
the Father by whose gracious act of adoption 
we are made sons and daughters of the Lord 
Almighty ? 

Mr. James remarked further, that the rela- 
tion of parent and child furnishes an appro- 
priate train of thought, for the purpose of 



GRACE AND GLORY. 217 

showing the manner in which the obligations 
involved in adoption are to be discharged. 
Children owe their parents filial honour, grati- 
tude, and obedience. If they are dutiful 
children, they will need no prompter but filial 
love to make them revere and obey their 
parents. And if they duly appreciate the 
many benefits they have received at their 
parents' hands, they will cheerfully do their 
utmost to advance their interests. If parents 
are slandered, their children will be the first 
to repel the aspersion, and to sustain and 
vindicate their good name. If they require 
efficient aid in accomplishing any great and 
important undertaking, their children may be 
reasonably expected, above all others, to enter 
zealously into their plans, and to employ their 
best endeavours for carrying them into effect. 
Good children also love each other, and rejoice 
in each other's welfare. 

In like manner the children of God, if they 
act in character, honour and adore his holy 
name, and habitually and cheerfully keep his 

commandments. They seek to promote God's 
19 



218 GRACE AND GLORY. 

kingdom and glory in the world. His in- 
terests they feel to be their own. They also love 
one another, and endeavour to keep the unity 
of the spirit in the bond of peace. By the 
exhibition of these principles, and the per- 
formance of corresponding duties, they act 
worthily of the high relation into which they 
are brought by adoption. In the words of 
Paul, they are "the sons of God, without re- 
buke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
nation, among whom they shine as lights in 
the world." 

I earnestly counsel and exhort you, Henry, 
to walk worthily of that holy name by which 
you are called. Lead a devout and consistent 
Christian life. Always confide in the wisdom 
and goodness of your heavenly Father. En- 
deavour to bring others who are now strangers 
to the covenant of promise, into the same fel- 
lowship with God which you enjoy, and to be 
fellow-heirs with you of the heavenly inheri- 
tance. 

Henry thanked his father for the interest 
which he felt in him, and expressed the hope 



GRACE AND GLORY. 219 

that his counsels, exhortations, and prayers 
would not be lost, but that he would receive 
grace to serve the Lord with fidelity all the 
days of his life. The evening being spent, the 
conversation closed. 



220 GRACE AND GLORY. 



CONVERSATION VI. 

GRACE AND COMFORT, OR THE DOCTRINES 
OF GRACE A SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS TO 
BELIEVERS. 

Henry James had now become a happy 
and growing Christian. His doctrinal diffi- 
culties were removed, and he took delight in 
religious duties. At family worship one eve- 
ning, the forty-sixth Psalm was read, and two 
stanzas of the same Psalm were sung from Dr. 
Watts's beautiful versification. 

There is a stream, whose gentle flow 

Supplies the city of our God ! 
Life, love, and joy still gliding through, 

And watering our divine abode. 

That sacred stream, thy holy word, 
Supports our faith, our fear controls ; 

Sweet peace thy promises afford, 
And give new strength to fainting souls. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 221 

After prayer, Henry said to his father, Is 
it a good evidence that a person has exper- 
ienced a saving change, when he takes delight 
in God's word — when its doctrines, promises, 
and precepts are sources of comfort and satis- 
faction ? 

Mr. James replied, Happiness as well as 
holiness, comes from God. But whether these 
are always connected with each other depends 
on the kind of happiness referred to. God's 
goodness extends even to the wicked, who en- 
joy many temporal pleasures, though living 
in sin. " He is kind to the evil and to the un- 
thankful.' ' But spiritual comfort, which is the 
purest, best, and only permanent blessing, is 
enjoyed by Christians alone. There is no true 
spiritual comfort without grace. Unconverted 
men have no relish for religion. "The carnal 
mind is enmity against God." The communi- 
cation of his renewing grace must therefore 
precede that species of satisfaction and delight 
alluded to in your question. And hence my 
answer is, that if a person takes delight in 
God's w^ord, if its doctrines, promises, and 
19* 



222 GRACE AND GLORY. 

precepts afford him real pleasure, he has a 
scriptural warrant for inferring that his heart 
has been renewed by divine grace. 

When we read the words of David, " Oh how 
I love thy law ! It is my meditation all the 
day;" and of Paul, "I delight in the law 
of God after the inward man ;" we do not doubt 
that they describe the feelings of those men 
after they became pious, and not before. And 
the case is the same, when from the word of 
God in general, we particularize its doctrines, 
promises, and precepts. They are precious 
to the renewed heart, but not to the carnal 
mind. Thus concerning practical religion, 
the apostle John says, " This is the love of 
God, that we keep his commandments ; and 
his commandments are not grievous.' ' God's 
love in the heart makes obedience to him a 
source of real pleasure. To such, Christ's 
"yoke is easy, and his burden is light;" but 
not to those who have no faith in him as their 
Redeemer, and no love to him as their king 
and lawgiver. 

If any part of the gospel, said Mr. James, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 223 

could afford pleasure to unconverted men, it 
would be its promises. In order however to 
make the promises of God a source of inward 
satisfaction, we must exercise faith in them, 
without which they are scarcely more effica- 
cious in comforting our souls, than was Sam- 
son's dry and juiceless jaw-bone in allaying 
his thirst. Though it had done him good ser- 
vice as a weapon to slay the Philistines, it 
possessed not a drop of moisture to revive his 
exhausted body, till by the prayer of faith he 
called on the Lord. Then " God clave a hol- 
low place that was in the jaw, and there came 
water thereout ; and when he had drunk, his 
spirit came again, and he revived." Judges 
xv. 18, 19. In like manner those only who 
truly believe in God, and rest on his word, 
can derive real comfort from its promises. 
Accordingly the language of Peter concern- 
ing the preciousness of God's promises, is 
adapted in a special manner to his people, 
i. e., to those who are subjects of his grace, 
and are seeking to be conformed to his char- 
acter. " Whereby are given unto us exceed- 



224 GRACE AND GLORY. 

ing great and precious promises ; that by these 
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, 
having escaped the corruption that is in the 
world through lust.'* 

The doctrines of the gospel, continued Mr. 
James, are taught in the Scriptures in various 
forms. Doctrinal instruction is often con- 
tained in the promises and precepts of God's 
word. But in whatever form doctrines are 
taught, a love for them, and especially a love 
for those doctrines which are usually styled 
the doctrines of grace, is a good evidence of 
a change of heart. The true state of the case 
is expressed in one of our hymns : 

Christ and bis cross is all our theme : 

The mysteries that we speak 
Are scandal in the Jew's esteem, 

And folly to the* Greek. 

But souls enlightened from above, 

With joy receive the word ; 
They see what wisdom, power, and love, 

Shine in their dying Lord. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 225 

THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE ARE ADAPTED TO 
MAKE BELIEVERS HAPPY. 

Henry James remarked, I am glad, father, 
that you have mentioned the doctrines of 
grace in this connection. I have been hoping 
you would state before our conversations 
closed, how these doctrines are adapted to 
make Christians happy. 

Mr. James replied, This has been stated in- 
cidentally already, and it may be inferred 
from much that has been said in our previous 
interviews ; but it will afford me pleasure to 
give it a distinct and separate consideration. 
A desire for happiness ought not to be our 
primary motive for being religious ; nor is the 
tendency of the doctrines of grace to make us 
happy the sole, or even the chief, argument in 
favour of their being true and important. 
The principal question is, Are they taught in 
God's word ? not, Will a belief in them make 
us happy ? If, however, it can be shown 
from the Bible, and from Christian experience, 
(as may be easily done,) that they are a 



226 GRACE AND GLORY. 

source of true comfort to believers, this fact 
corroborates the other evidence for the truth 
and excellence of these doctrines, and it is a 
proper and powerful motive, though a second- 
ary one, for their being cordially embraced. 

THE DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT AND JUSTIFI- 
CATION ARE ADAPTED TO MAKE BELIEV- 
ERS HAPPY. 

The first of these doctrines mentioned in 
our conversations, is the atonement, a believ- 
ing reception of which produces joy. "We 
also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom w T e have now received the atone- 
ment." Rom. v. 11. In this passage, the 
apostle expressly teaches that faith in the 
doctrine of Christ's atonement, i. e., an inward, 
experimental faith, makes the believer joyful. 
The nature of this joy is partly described by 
the clause, "joy in God." It is religious joy, 
resulting from a scriptural evidence that God 
is reconciled to us and we to him ; that he 
accepts and treats us as his friends. It is 
further described by the clause, " through our 



GRACE AND GLORY. 227 

Lord Jesus Christ." It is evangelical joy, 
arising from a hearty approval and reception 
of the gospel plan of atonement and reconcil- 
iation. God out of Christ is a consuming 
fire to the transgressor. " God in Christ is 
reconciling the world unto himself, not imput- 
ing their trespasses unto them." Saving faith 
trusts in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, as the 
only ground of deliverance, and an essential 
preliminary to faith, t. e., to saving faith, is a 
conviction of sin and misery ; in other words, 
remorse of conscience, and an apprehension 
of divine wrath, with an anxious concern to 
be delivered from this state of condemnation. 
When a sinner under these circumstances is 
enabled by God's grace to receive and rest on 
Christ alone for salvation, his troubled con- 
science is relieved, and his fear is succeeded 
by hope and comfort. With an humble yet 
joyful heart, he can exclaim in the language 
of the prophet, " Lord, I will praise thee : 
though thou wast angry with me, thine anger 
is turned away, and thou comfortedst me." 
Closely allied to the atonement, continued 



228 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Mr. James, is justification ; and the comfort 
arising therefrom, is very much the same as 
has been now described. " Being justified by 
faith, we have peace with God, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have ac- 
cess by faith into this grace wherein we stand, 
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
Rom. v. 1, 2. As has been before stated, we 
are justified meritoriously by the imputation 
of Christ's righteousness, and instrumentally 
by faith, which receives his righteousness, and 
appropriates it to our own benefit. His right- 
eousness furnishes a full and satisfactory 
ground of access to God, and a comforting 
assurance of our acceptance. Christ is our 
peace. Through him we can " come boldly to 
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 
and find grace to help in time of need." Justi- 
fication gives us likewise peace of conscience, 
which consists, not in ceasing to feel that we 
are guilty and unworthy sinners, but in the 
inward consciousness of being pardoned and 
accepted through the merits of Christ, for 
whose sake our sins will not be brought against 



GRACE AND GLORY. 229 

us in the judgment. And further, believers 
have not only a hope of being delivered from 
wrath, but of obtaining salvation, through the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Justification secures a 
title to heaven, a firm and confident hope of 
which is a fountain of inexhaustible comfort. 
" We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 

AN EXTRAORDINARY ANECDOTE. 

The following extraordinary anecdote of a 
poor negro on the coast of Africa, affords a re- 
markable illustration of , the peace and joy af- 
forded to believing sinners by the doctrines of 
atonement and justification. Becoming much 
distressed about his soul, he went from place 
to place, without meeting with any one to 
comfort him. One day, falling in with some 
English sailors, he was asked by one of them, 
" What is the matter with you ?" The negro 
began to tell his tale of woe, but was hastily 
interrupted by the sailor, " Oh, I see what is 
the matter ; you must go to England, and there 
you'll hear of the Christian's God, who paid 

the debt." These words were spoken in a 
20 



230 GRACE AND GLORY. 

thoughtless manner, but they made so deep an 
impression on the mind of the negro, that he de- 
termined to proceed to England. Travelling 
to an English settlement, and going aboard a 
ship which was lying there, he made an ar- 
rangement by which he worked his passage to 
London. During the voyage, he would fre- 
quently approach the sailors, one after another, 
and say with great simplicity, and in a 
plaintive tone, " Please, massa, tell me where's 
the Christian's God, dat pay de debt V But 
the sailors, being irreligious, laughed him to 
scorn. When he landed in England, he 
walked about, repeating the question to every 
one he met, in a most melancholy manner, 
" Please, massa, tell me where's the Chris- 
tian's God, dat pay de debt ?" After he had 
wandered here and there, for some time, without 
obtaining satisfaction, a pious gentleman di- 
rected him to go to such a place that evening, 
and there he would hear about the Christian's 
God. He went, and heard a sermon on the 
suretyship of Christ, in which the minister 
described sin as a debt, and Christ as paying 



GRACE AND GLORY. 281 

it, and the price he paid, and that he had as- 
cended up to heaven, and had sent him, the 
preacher, to say to all, " Come unto me all 
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." Before he closed his sermon, 
the Holy Spirit had so enlightened the mind 
of the negro, that he started up in the pew, 
and said in a low tone, and with tears stream- 
ing from his eyes, " Me have found him ! me 
have found him ! the Christian's God dat pay 
de debt." After the services, the minister in- 
structed him further concerning the gospel 
plan of salvation, and so on from day to day, as 
he had opportunities. The negro gave evidence 
of possessing true faith in Christ ; his anxiety 
of mind was relieved ; and like the Ethiopian eu- 
nuch when he parted from Philip, he returned 
to his native country, rejoicing in the Lord. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S HAPPINESS SHOULD CON- 
TINUE AND INCREASE AS HE GROWS OLDER. 
THE FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE. ANECDOTE 
OF A WOUNDED AND DYING SOLDIER. 

Henry James inquired whether young con- 



232 GRACE AND GLORY. 

verts do not enjoy more happiness than older 
Christians ? 

Mr. James replied, The discovery of a foun- 
tain of water excites a stronger gush of joyful 
emotion in the mind of a person almost ready 
to die with thirst, than he feels afterwards 
when he approaches the same fountain from 
day to day. But though that extraordinary 
impulse does not continue, his real enjoy- 
ment is rather increased than diminished 
by his constant supply of this necessary 
of life. In like manner, when an anxious 
soul first finds Christ, the transition which 
is experienced from a state of nature to 
a state of grace, produces some emotions 
peculiar to that point of time. But when 
those peculiar emotions, though pleasur- 
able, pass away, it does not follow that the 
Christian's happiness is diminished. His 
subsequent religious experience developes 
other emotions not felt at first so distinctly, 
but which being more of a spiritual, and less of 
an animal, character, are, in their nature, per- 
manent and progressive. 






GRACE AND GLORY. 233 

One source of happiness in particular is 
mentioned in Scripture as a Christian at- 
tainment, to be sought for and enjoyed by 
those who are already converted, and not 
as being an essential characteristic of true 
piety, and which therefore is to be ex- 
pected in advanced believers, rather than in 
young converts. I allude to the full assurance 
of hope. " We desire that every one of you do 
shew the same diligence to the full assurance 
of hope unto the end." Heb. vi. 11. I do 
not affirm that young converts never enjoy 
this assurance, much less that they cannot 
from the nature of the case. But as this ex- 
hortation is addressed to believers, and as full as- 
surance is generally, if not always, mentioned 
in Scripture in a similar connection, I feel 
warranted in the statement that it belongs to 
the progress of the Christian life, rather than 
to its commencement. Though the first act 
of genuine faith in Christ produces hope, and 
this emotion is joyous ; yet when our faith is 
tested and strengthened by experience, our 
hope becomes proportionally more" clear and 
20* 



234 GRACE AND GLORY. 

consequently the joy of hope more and more 
abundant. 

But I may add that the attainment of this 
assurance does not depend so much on the 
length of time, as on the diligence with 
which it is sought. A feeble faith, and a 
slothful performance of religious duty, are not 
the medium through which God communicates 
this privilege, or the joys which flow from it. 
In order to its possession, believers must seek 
by prayer the increase of their faith, culti- 
vate with diligence the other Christian graces, 
and put in practice what Paul denominates the 
"work and labour of love." 

And further, it is important, in order to the 
enjoyment of this assurance, that we have the 
witness of the Holy Spirit. In proportion to 
the degree of evidence we possess of being 
God's children, will be our assurance of his 
love, and our hope of salvation. And one of 
the most satisfactory and delightful of these 
evidences is, the witness of the Holy Spirit. 
What this is I have already told you, and I 
now remark that in order to the habitual en- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 235 

joyment of this divine testimony of our adop- 
tion, we must seek the abiding presence of the 
Holy Spirit in our hearts ; and to this end we 
must avoid grieving the Spirit by the indul- 
gence of an unholy temper, or the committing 
of known sin ; and we must earnestly pray 
for his influences, and devoutly meditate on 
his word. The happiness experienced by be- 
lievers from this source is more easily felt than 
described. The spirit of adoption is emi- 
nently a peaceful and happy spirit. How 
worthless and beggarly do earthly pleasures 
appear, in the estimation of those who feel the 
peace and joy resulting from this divine tes- 
timony of their being the children of God ! 

While blest with a sense of his love, 

A palace, a toy would appear ; 
And prisons would palaces prove, 

If Jesus would dwell with me there. 

The peace of mind described in the follow- 
ing incident was worth more to its possessor 
than any temporal good, not excepting life 
itself. Let your walk with God be such, 



236 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Henr j, as to secure the daily and uninterrupted 
enjoyment of this peace. Nothing is stated 
concerning the previous character of the per- 
son alluded to ; but the incident shows on its 
face, that he was before this a truly religious 
man. I take it from a paper published at the 
time. In one of the battles of the Crimea, 
an English officer noticed a wounded soldier 
weltering in his blood, and he asked him if he 
could do anything for him. 

" Nothing, thank you." 

" Shall I get you a little water ?" said the 
kind-hearted officer. 

" No, thank you ; I am dying." 

" Is there nothing I can do for you ? Shall 
I write to your friends ?" 

" I have no friends you can write to. But 
there is one thing for which I would be much 
obliged ; in my knapsack you will find a Tes- 
tament — will you open it at the 14th of John, 
and near the end of 'the chapter you will find 
a verse that begins with 'Peace/ Will you 
read it?" 

The officer did so, and read the words, 






GRACE AND GLORY. 237 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you ; not as the world giveth, give I 
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid. " 

" Thank you, sir," said the dying man; "I 
have that peace : I am going to that Sav- 
iour ; God is with me ; I want no more," and 
instantly expired. 

SANCTIFICATION PRODUCES COMFORT. 

Mr. James further remarked, Growth in 
grace is a source of comfort to believers. 
Sanctification, or growth in grace, I have al- 
ready described to be the work of God's Spirit 
in the soul, by which we experience an hab- 
itual advance in our inward spiritual life. 
With respect to sin, it is a continual death ; 
but with respect to holiness, it is the daily 
attainment of new vigour for the service of 
God ; a higher state of conformity to his will, 
and a closer approximation to the character 
of Christ. There is much in this process that 
is painful to the flesh. It is a warfare, a de- 
nying of ourselves, a mortifying of our cor- 



238 GRACE AND GLORY. 

rupt affections. But though painful to the 
flesh, the achievement of such a victory over 
the old man of sin renders our spirit joyful ; 
and this joy is increased when, having put off 
the old man, we " put on the new man, which 
after God is created in righteousness and true 
holiness. " The more we grow in grace, the 
more intimate and delightful will be our com- 
munion with God, the more earnest our aspir- 
ations after the joys of heaven, and the 
greater our comfort at the prospect of death. 
" The path of the just is as the shining light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
day." Notice, it does not saj r , less and less, 
but more and more ; teaching us that true 
Christians will become more and more holy, 
and more and more happy, the further they 
advance in their heavenly course, until, crossing 
the Jordan, they shall enter into the joy of 
their Lord. 

How powerful are the motives here presented 
for aiming at a high standard of piety ! Be 
not satisfied, Henry, with low attainments. 
Watch against sin and all temptations thereto ; 



GRACE AND GLORY. 239 

against sensuality, pride, envy, avarice, ambi- 
tion, and the inordinate love of the world. 
Guard against inward declension, and en- 
deavour to obtain, from day to day, a fresh 
unction, a new baptism of the Holy Spirit. 
And be encouraged and animated in your aims 
and efforts, by reflecting that He who has 
made you a partaker of the heavenly calling 
is the holy God ; that the Saviour who has 
redeemed you is the holy Jesus ; that the 
Spirit by whom you have been regenerated, 
is the Holy Ghost ; and that the church of the 
first born in heaven are rendered happy and 
glorious, in a large degree, from the fact that 
their characters, associations, and employ- 
ments, bear the impress of perfect holiness. 
If the smallest stain of sin among the inhab- 
itants of heaven would mar their bliss, is it 
strange that it should alloy the Christian's 
enjoyment here? This is the chief reason 
why our happiness on earth is not complete ; 
and why believers so often exclaim, with long- 
ing desires, like the apostle Paul, " wretched 
man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from 



240 GRACE AND GLORY. 

the body of this death ?" But this very ut- 
terance, proceeding from a heart like Paul's, 
is a step in the work of sanctification ; and 
with each successful struggle, and the prospect 
of a complete victory at last, we shall find our 
rebounding spirits sympathizing still further 
with him in saying, " I thank God through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord/' 

Henry inquired, Do you mean to say, father, 
that our joys are invariably in exact proportion 
to our growth in grace ? 

Mr. James replied, God may sometimes, for 
good reasons, withhold light and comfort from 
his people, though they are making* habitual 
progress in holiness. Or their minds may be 
clouded through the influence of bodily dis- 
ease. Or they may be chiefly eminent in 
those particular graces, patience for instance, 
which are in their nature less adapted to pro- 
duce joy than some other graces. I do not 
feel warranted therefore, in asserting that we 
can invariably test our progress in holiness, 
by the amount of our joy. My language was 
intended to be taken in a general sense. Yet 



GRACE AND GLORY. 241 

the circumstances under which great joy is 
often alluded to in the Scriptures, strongly 
favour the idea that the ordinary concomitant 
of growth in grace, is a corresponding increase 
of inward comfort. The following considera- 
tions will be sufficient to make this appa- 
rent : 

1. Godly sorrow for sin is a Scriptural 
mark of increasing holiness. But the very 
tears of penitence which are thus shed, are 
rendered bright and pearly by spiritual joy. 
I noticed the joy of repentance in a previous 
conversation, and illustrated it by an example. 
As you will readily call to mind what I said, 
and especially the anecdote referred to as an 
illustration, I need not remark particularly 
now on the happiness which flows from this 
grace. 

2. Afflictions are sometimes sent for the 
evident purpose of promoting our sanctifica- 
tion. Yet God's suffering people, even before 
they are brought out of the furnace, are often 
filled with joy, like Paul and Silas, who, 
though smarting under the stripes of their 

21 



242 GRACE AND GLORY. 

persecutors, and with their feet fast in the 
stocks, "prayed and sang praises unto 
God." 

3. The renunciation of self, and an unre- 
served consecration to the service of God, are 
evidences of sanctifi cation. But who ever heard 
of a Christian performing these acts without 
having his religious enjoyment greatly in- 
creased ? The man who forsakes God, the 
fountain of living waters, and hews out to him- 
self broken cisterns, which can hold no water, 
must necessarily be in a dry and comfortless 
condition. But when he renounces self, and 
turns again to God, with a full purpose to 
glorify him, he gains direct access to the 
source of all good, and "with joy draws 
water out of the wells of salvation." And, 

4. Resignation to God's will is a proof of 
sanctification. But a resigned state of mind 
is a happy state, and the more entire this 
resignation, the more abundant the joy. To 
have no will of our own, to lie passive in 
God's hand, to be disposed of according to 
his pleasure, is the purest, the sweetest, and 



GRACE AND GLORY. 243 

the most elevated enjoyment which the Chris- 
tian ever experiences here below. It is like 
the joy of angels, the joy of the spirits of the 
just made perfect, the joy of our Lord him- 
self. 

GOOD WORKS ARE PRODUCTIVE OF COMFORT TO 
BELIEVERS. 

After answering several other questions 
which Henry desired to ask, concerning the 
joy of sanctification, Mr. James proceeded to 
remark on the comfort connected with the per- 
formance of good works. That religion which 
saves the soul, said he, is not merely a set of 
principles, but a spiritual life, the beginning 
of which consists in our being quickened by the 
Holy Spirit, according to the words of Paul, 
" You hath he quickened who were dead in 
trespasses and sins. ,, The consciousness of 
possessing this life is a source of pleasure, just 
as the possession of natural life affords to every 
living being a feeling of satisfaction. But 
mere life without its activities, is far less 
happy than the same life, when its vital func- 



244 GRACE AND GLORY. 

tions and its capacities for receiving and com- 
municating good are in active exercise. So 
the belief that we are Christians produces 
comfort ; but our happiness is much increased 
by performing devotional duties, and by 
practising good works. 

Prayer, praise, reading God's word, and 
devout meditation, are sources of more real 
enjoyment to pious minds, than can be com- 
puted by numbers. They are delightful, be- 
cause they are suited to the spiritual taste of 
our renewed moral nature. For the same rea- 
son, good works are sources of pleasure. 
God's "commandments are not grievous." 
On the contrary, they are " the joy and re- 
joicing of our hearts." A consciousness of 
performing our duty is a proper ground of 
satisfaction, but our love for God's service in- 
troduces another element of happiness not 
felt by those who merely obey the behests 
of conscience. What we love to do will of 
course afford us pleasure. And besides, if 
our good works are the fruit of faith in Christ, 
and a desire to glorify God, we shall receive 



GRACE AND GLORY. 245 

the divine approbation as manifested in the 
comforting influences of the Holy Spirit. 
"And where he vital breathes, there must be 

joy-" 

Says Jehovah to his ancient people, " Oh 
that thou hadst hearkened to my command- 
ments ! then had thy peace been as a river ;" 
i, e., it would have been abundant and increas- 
ing ; I would have communicated peace from 
my own presence ; and it would have been 
ever flowing into your souls, with a continuous 
and expanding fulness, like a deep and broad 
river flowing onward to the ocean. 

These remarks, continued Mr. James, have 
a special application to works of benevolence 
and mercy. True piety subdues the selfish- 
ness of our natures, and brings our feelings 
into free and unrestrained sympathy with the 
wants and woes of our fellow men. It makes 
well-doing a luxury. As a gentleman once 
said, when he was thanked for a donation to a 
benevolent object, " I thank you for afford- 
ing me this opportunity of giving ; the practice 

of beneficence is to me a real luxury.' ' And 
21* 



246 GRACE AND GLORY. 

besides this, the Scriptures assert that such 
acts piously performed are well pleasing to 
God ; and I need not repeat the remark that 
this secures the purest and most elevated hap- 
piness. " To do good and to communicate, 
forget not ; for with such sacrifices, God is 
well pleased. " 

I earnestly enjoin upon you, Henry, to en- 
gage in the work of doing good. Give a por- 
tion of your substance, and also of your time. 
Engage in personal efforts to alleviate bodily 
suffering. Be an angel of mercy to the poor 
and distressed. Aside from the fact that you 
will thus discharge a christian duty, you will 
find it a source of real satisfaction. 

Labour also for the souls of men. " Let 
him know," says the apostle James, "that he 
which converteth the sinner from the error 
of his way shall save a soul from death, and 
shall hide a multitude of sins." How greatly 
it will add to the happiness of your christian 
life, to be made an instrument in God's hand 
of saving a single soul from eternal death ! 
But you may, peradventure, if you diligently 



GRACE AND GLORY. 247 

employ scriptural means, save not only one, 
but many souls ; and thus have your cup of 
spiritual comfort filled to overflowing. I 
doubt not that those pious young men who 
are actively engaged in teaching Sabbath- 
schools, and in other efforts to benefit the 
youth and children of our country, are ren- 
dered doubly happy by these exertions. 

HAPPINESS OF BENEVOLENT ACTION ILLUS- 
TRATED — REV. ANDREW FULLER AND HIS 
CHURCH — REV. DR. A. ALEXANDER. 

Mr. James further remarked, Many illus- 
trations might be given of the happiness con- 
nected with the performance of good works. 
I will mention one only, which relates to the 
comfort that follows benevolent action. The 
Rev. Andrew Fuller, an eminent Baptist min- 
ister of England, in a letter to a friend, wrote 
as follows : " There was a period of my min- 
istry marked by the most pointed systematic 
effort to comfort my serious people : but the 
more I tried to comfort them, the more they 
complained of doubts and darkness. Wherever 



248 GRACE AND GLORY. 

I went among them, one lamentation met my 
ear, 'Ah ! sir, I can get no comfort. I am 
unable to appropriate any of the great and 
precious promises to myself. I looked for 
light, and behold darkness/ I knew not what 
to do, nor what to think, for I had done my 
best to comfort the mourners in Zion. I was 
therefore at my wit's end. At this time, it 
pleased God to direct my attention to the 
claims of the perishing heathen in India ; I 
felt that we had been living for ourselves, and 
not caring for their souls. I spoke as I felt. 
My serious people wondered and wept over 
their past inattention to this subject. They 
began to talk about a Baptist mission. The 
females, especially, began to collect money for 
the spread of the gospel. We met and prayed 
for the heathen, met and considered what could 
be done amongst ourselves for them, met and 
did what we could. And, whilst all this was 
going on, the lamentations ceased. The sad 
became cheerful, and the desponding calm. 
No one complained of a want of comfort. 
And I, instead of having to study how to com- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 249 

fort my flock, was myself comforted by them. 
They were drawn out of themselves. Sir, 
that was the real secret. God blessed them 
while they tried to be a blessing.' ' 

There is sound, christian philosophy, said 
Mr. James, in Mr. Fuller's solution of this 
matter. " God blessed them while they tried 
to be a blessing. " A genuine missionary 
spirit is the spirit of Christ ; and those who 
cherish and practise it are made happy and 
joyful in the light of his countenance. The 
venerable Dr. A. Alexander once remarked 
that he was convinced by reading the corres- 
pondence from foreign missionaries, his for- 
mer pupils, that their religious enjoyment had 
been much increased by their consecration to 
the missionary work. In them was fulfilled 
the promise of our Lord, " Every one that hath 
forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or fa- 
ther, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, 
for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred 
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." 



250 GRACE AND GLORY. 



GOOD WORKS ARE INSTRUMENTS, NOT THE 
FOUNDATION OF OUR HAPPINESS. 

Henry James's countenance beamed with 
animation as he listened to his father's re- 
marks. He now said, Your description of the 
Christian's privileges is delightful. But may 
I ask you, father, whether if our good works 
contribute so much to our happiness, there is 
not some danger of our placing too much re- 
liance on our works ? 

Mr. James replied, If we are not genuine 
Christians, this may be the effect. Mere nom- 
inal Christians, who look no further than to 
external duties as the source of their comfort, 
will be quite likely to feel self-complacent, 
and self-reliant, at their supposed progress in 
the divine life, by these outward performances. 
But in my remarks, I have no reference to 
those who thus go about to establish their own 
righteousness, but to real believers, who have 
learned a different lesson at the cross of 
Christ. A self-righteous spirit is the bane 
of true christian enjoyment. Hence if we are 



GRACE AND GLORY. 251 

truly converted, our immediate loss of com- 
fort by self-righteousness would check us, 
even if we were tempted to rely on our good 
works as the ground of our happiness. We 
are not made happy by our good works, but 
in them. They are not the foundation of our 
comfort, but only instruments of conveying 
comfort from Christ, by faith in whose blood, 
good works are produced. The Comforter is 
the Holy Spirit, who is given to those that 
believe in Christ. But besides being our 
Comforter, the Holy Spirit is also our Sanc- 
tifier ; and a part of our sanctification con- 
sists in the grace of humility. Hence those 
in whom the work of sanctification is going 
on, feel, notwithstanding all their good works, 
that in God's sight, they are unprofitable ser- 
vants ; that their comforts are not bestowed 
upon them as a debt, but on the principle of 
grace; and thus looking away from them- 
selves and their good works as sources of com- 
fort, they trust solely in Christ as the only 
fountain of happiness ; according to that pro- 
mise of our Lord, "He that believeth on 



252 GRACE AND GLORY, 

me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his 
belly shall flow rivers of living water. This 
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe 
on him shall receive." The whole taken to- 
gether may be stated thus : Christ is the 
infinite fountain of grace and comfort. The 
Holy Spirit is the vital current which proceeds 9 
from it, and communicates grace and comfort 
to the soul. And this grace and comfort thus 
communicated, spring up again in holy and 
happy affections, which in their outward 
manifestations yield a rich harvest of good 
works. 

PERSEVERANCE AND PREDESTINATION ARE 
ADAPTED TO MAKE CHRISTIANS HAPPY. 

Henry James remarked, You have now, fa- 
ther, gone over nearly the whole ground of 
our previous conversations, except persever- 
ance and predestination. Are these doctrines 
adapted to make Christians happy ? 

Yes, my son, said Mr. James, these two 
doctrines are among the great mercies of God, 
and when cordially embraced, they possess 



GRACE AtfD GLORY. 253 

remarkable power to sustain, invigorate, and 
comfort the soul. What believer can medi- 
tate on such texts as the following, without 
feelings of gratitude, confidence, and joy? 
" I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; 
therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn 
thee." " Having loved his own, he loved them 
unto the end." He "is able to keep you 
from falling, and to present you faultless be- 
fore the presence of his glory with exceeding 
joy." " We know that all things work to- 
gether for good to them that love God, to them 
who are the called according to his purpose." 
These passages are a few among many of a 
similar character, which God's people delight 
to meditate upon, and appropriate to them- 
selves, as a part of their most valuable spir- 
itual wealth. And yet these texts contain a 
distinct statement of the doctrines of the 
saints' perseverance and predestination. No- 
tice in particular the last of these texts. "All 
things work together for good to them that 
love God, to them who are the called accord- 
ing to his purpose." It may be doubted 
22 



254 GRACE AND GLORY. 

whether there is a passage in the Bible more 
replete with consolation to the people of God 
under their earthly trials than this. In pain- 
ful or protracted illness ; in the loss of friends ; 
in a change of circumstances from affluence 
to poverty ; in religious persecution ; and in 
any other sufferings to which believers are 
subject, this text is like an anchor to their 
souls, to keep them steadfast and happy, 
amidst the billows of adversity. As the sailor 
boy, in a terrific storm at sea, was calm and 
composed, while all around him were trem- 
bling with fear, because he said, his father 
stood at the helm ; so pious believers in these 
doctrines feel, with regard to their heavenly 
Father. " Let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm," 
said Luther, " and then let our enemies do 
their worst." God's infinite power, love, and 
faithfulness which underlie these two doctrines, 
form the chief sentiments of that Psalm ; and 
no unbeliever in these doctrines can sympa- 
thize with the great German Reformer in the 
support and comfort which he derived from 
that portion of God's word. But I will give 



GRACE AND GLORY. 255 

one or two examples, which contain a more 
direct and explicit testimony on this point. 
They will serve to illustrate the feelings of 
millions of others. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE COMFORT AFFORDED 
TO BELIEVERS BY THE DOCTRINES OF PER- 
SEVERANCE AND PREDESTINATION DR. 

DWIGHT — DR. JOHN BRECKINRIDGE. 

The biographer of Dr. Dwight, whose pub- 
lished works show that he was a firm be- 
liever in these doctrines, makes the following 
statement concerning the closing period of his 
life: " During his last days and hours, his 
mind seemed to repose with unlimited confi- 
dence and joy on the great truths which he 
had believed and preached, and his departure 
was as serene and beautiful as the going down 
of the sun in a cloudless sky." 

Dr. John Breckinridge was a minister of 
the Presbyterian church, a zealous and de- 
voted Christian, and a "prince of preachers." 
The great joy which he experienced from these 
doctrines may be seen from a single circum- 



256 GRACE AND GLORY. 

stance, viz., that a favourite hymn which he 
often read from the pulpit, contains the fol- 
lowing stanzas, which he also repeated occa- 
sionally in private conversation, remarking as 
he proceeded, with a glow of joy on his coun- 
tenance, that he derived from those words the 
most exquisite pleasure. 

God has laid up in heaven for me 

A crown which cannot fade ; 
The righteous Judge at that great day, 

Shall place it on my head. 

Nor hath the King of grace decreed 

This prize for me alone ; 
But all that love, and long to see 

The appearance of his Son. 

Jesus, the Lord, will guard me safe 

From every ill design ; 
And to his heavenly kingdom take 

This feeble soul of mine. 

After I had read these stanzas not long ago 
from the pulpit of one of our prominent city 
churches, the pastor said to me, " Do you 
know that this was Dr. John Breckinridge's 



/ 



GRACE AND GLORY. 257 

favourite hymn ? He used to speak of it as 
a hymn which afforded him peculiar satisfac- 
tion/ ' And why was it such a favourite? 
Unquestionably because it contains a glowing 
and scriptural statement of the blessed secur- 
ity of God's people, founded on his eternal 
and unchangeable love. The words them- 
selves clearly indicate this, especially when 
interpreted by Dr. Breckinridge's well known 
theological sentiments. 

Mr. James then said to Henry, I wish now 
to appeal to your own feelings ; and as a test 
of these, I desire you to read that beautiful 
hymn, the first verse of which I repeated in a 
former conversation, commencing, 

Grace ! Tis a charming sound ; 
and then tell me whether the sentiments con- 
tained in it, are not adapted to make you feel 
happy. That hymn was composed by one 
of the most eminent ministers of his day, 
the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, author of " The Rise 
and Progress of Religion in the Soul." 
22* 



258 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Henry read as follows : 

Grace ! Tis a charming sound, 
Harmonious to mine ear : 

Heaven with the echo shall resound, 
And all the earth shall hear. 

Grace first contrived the way 

To save rebellious man ; 
And all the steps that grace display, 

Which drew the wondrous plan. 

Grace first inscribed my name 

In God's eternal book ; 
'Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb, 

Who all my sorrows took. 

Grace led my roving feet 
To tread the heavenly road ; 

And new supplies each hour I meet, 
While pressing on to God. 

Grace taught my soul to pray, 
And made my eyes o'erflow : 

'Twas grace that kept me to this day, 
And will not let me go. 

Grace all the work shall crown 
Through everlasting days ; 

It lays in heaven the topmost stone, 
And well deserves the praise. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 259 

After Henry James had finished reading 
this hymn, he said, When you were making 
your remarks on this and another hymn of a 
similar character, in the conversation to which 
you have alluded, my feelings fully accorded 
with your statement, that the sentiments they 
contain, are the delight of all true Christians. 
My own delight in them I have regarded as 
one evidence of my having experienced a sav- 
ing change of heart. The singing of these 
stanzas, and others of like character, has often 
made me feel happy. But I did not notice, 
until after you mentioned it, that these hymns 
contain so distinct a statement of the doctrines 
of grace, and that without my having thought 
particularly of this fact, my chief pleasure 
was derived in reality from these doctrines. 
May not Christians sometimes embrace these 
doctrines, father, in their hearts, and yet 
either deny, or considerably modify them, 
when stating their principles in a doctrinal 
form ? 

This is doubtless the case, said Mr. James. 
A Presbyterian minister once remarked to the 



260 GRACE AND GLORY. 

following effect : Pious Arminians and pious 
Calvinists differ more in theory than in their 
inward sentiments. Arminians begin with 
man and go up to God, and of course they 
have a great deal of man in their theology. 
Calvinists begin with God and go down to 
man, and consequently their theology has a 
great deal of God. But there is a middle 
ground on which they both meet, and give ex- 
pression to the same pious and devout feel- 
ings. Even John Wesley seems to have been 
a Calvinist at heart, though he was the founder 
of a denomination of Christians whose doc- 
trinal standards are Arminian. The follow- 
ing occurrence, narrated by Dobbin, in refer- 
ence to an interview between Simeon and 
Wesley, is an illustration. 

JOHN WESLEY A CALVINIST AT HEART. 

Three or four years after Simeon, whose 
name has since become sacred in the annals 
of the Church of Christ, was ordained, this 
young minister had an opportunity of con- 
versing with the founder of Arminian Metho- 



GRACE AND GLORY. 261 

dism ; and, wishing to improve the opportun- 
ity to the utmost, he began to question him 
thus : 

" Sir, I understand you are called an Ar- 
minian ; now I am sometimes called a Cal- 
vinist, and therefore, I suppose, we are to 
draw daggers. But, before we begin to com- 
bat, with your permission, I will ask you a few 
questions, not from impertinent curiosity, but 
for real instruction. Pray, sir, do you feel 
yourself a depraved creature — so depraved 
that you would never have thought of turning 
unto God, if God had not put it into your 
heart?" 

" Yes," said the veteran, " I do indeed." 

"And do you utterly despair of recom- 
mending yourself to God by anything that you 
can do, and look for salvation solely through 
the blood and righteousness of Christ ?" 

" Yes, solely through Christ." 

" But sir, supposing you were first saved 
by Christ, are you not somehow or other 
to save yourself afterwards, by your good 
• works ?" 



262 GKACE AND GLORY. 

" No ; I must be saved by Christ from first 
to last." 

"Allowing, then, that you were first turned 
by the grace of God, are you not, in some 
way or other, to keep yourself by your own 
power?" 

"No/' 

" What, then? Are you to be upheld every 
hour and every moment by God, as much as 
an infant in its mother's arms?" 

"Yes ; altogether." 

"And is all your hope in the grace and 
mercy of God to preserve you unto his heav- 
enly kingdom ?" 

" Yes ; I have no hope but in him." 

" Then sir, with your leave, I will put up 
my dagger again ; for this is my Calvinism ; 
this is my election, my justification, my final 
perseverance. It is, in substance, what I hold, 
and as I hold it ; and therefore, if you please, 
instead of searching out terms and phrases to 
be a ground of contention between us, we will 
cordially unite on those things wherein we 
agree." 



GBACE AND GLORY. 263 

Henry James was much pleased with this 
anecdote of Mr. Wesley, and said. How happy 
it would be, father, if Christians could all agree 
on these doctrines ! Do you think this will 
ever be the case ? 

Yes, said Mr. James, it will certainly be 
the case in heaven, if not before ; and I 
think it will be substantially so here at a fu- 
ture time. It is a matter which deserves the 
attention of Christians. Though the time al- 
lotted to our present conversation is spent, I 
will protract it a few minutes longer, to make 
some remarks on this subject. 

Mr. James then proceeded to remark as 
follows : With regard to those doctrines which 
are fundamental, there can be no compromise 
without endangering our salvation. Cerin- 
thus, who lived in the Apostolic age, held 
erroneous notions concerning the person and 
work of Christ. One day when he was in a 
public bath, the apostle John, that loving dis- 
ciple, observing Cerinthus in the bath, ex- 
claimed, "Let us flee lest the bath fall upon 
us, while Cerinthus, an enemy of the truth, 



264 GRACE AND GLORY. 

is in it." This fact I learn from ecclesiasti- 
cal history, and it well accords with a passage 
in one of John's Epistles, " I have no greater 
joy than to hear that my children walk in the 
truth." Lord Burleigh, a great English states- 
man of the time of Queen Elizabeth, used to 
say, "I never will trust any man whose reli- 
gious principles are not sound ; for he that is 
false to God, can never be true to man." 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RISE OF ARMIN- 
IANISM. 

The differences which divide Calvinists and 
Arminians, continued Mr. James, though not 
fundamental, are important. Arminius was a 
Hollander, a professor in the University of 
Leyden. The five points on which he differed 
from Calvin, have been brought to your notice 
in our previous conversations on the doctrines 
of grace. The doctrines of Arminius excited 
so much discussion in Holland, that an Eccle- 
siastical Council was called at Dort, in 1618, 
nine years after his decease, to discuss, and 
decide upon the alleged errors of those who 



GRACE AND GLORY. 265 

espoused the sentiments which he had promul- 
gated. The Synod consisted of eighty-six 
members, who were delegated from the churches 
of Holland, from all the Reformed churches 
on the continent except France, and from the 
Church of England. They were men emi- 
nent for talents, learning, and piety. Bishop 
Hall, one of the English delegates, when tak- 
ing leave of the Synod, on account of ill 
health, declared, " There is no place upon 
earth so like heaven as the Sj^nod of Dort, 
and where he should be more willing to dwell." 
The Synod continued to sit from the 13th of 
November, 1618, to the 20th of May, 1619. 
It held, in all, one hundred and eighty sit- 
tings, and it condemned the doctrines of 
Arminius by a unanimous vote. 

A century after that time, lived the Rev. 
John Wesley, who, it has been said, decided 
the question, whether he should embrace and 
preach Calvinistic or Arminian doctrines, by 
casting lots. This was an extraordinary 
method of settling articles of faith. He de- 
cided in favour of Arminianism; by which 
23 



266 GRACE AND GLORY. 

circumstance, he and Whitefield, who was a 
Calvinist, were separated from each other, 
though they always remained personal friends, 
and had great confidence in each other's 
piety. 

HOW TO PROMOTE AGREEMENT ON THE DOC- 
TRINES OE GRACE. 

How long it will be before Calvinistic and 
Arminian Christians will fully agree concern- 
ing the doctrines of grace, I cannot predict. 
So far as we can promote agreement without 
surrendering important truth, we ought to 
make the attempt, and to this end several par- 
ticulars must be observed. 

1. We must ascertain precisely what our 
differences are; whether they relate to the 
substance of these doctrines, or only to cer- 
tain words and phrases which are usually em- 
ployed to express them. If chiefly the latter, 
there is a substantial agreement, and hence 
no real ground exists for controversy. Christ- 
ian charity and mutual explanations are all 
that is needed for securing unity in action. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 267 

2. We must avoid using severe and offen- 
sive language, or indulging an unbrotherly 
spirit, when we may be called in duty to 
defend these doctrines against objectors and 
opposers. 

3. We must be careful not to afford just 
cause for objection, (as some professed Cal- 
vinists do,) by entertaining extreme, antinomi- 
an views concerning these doctrines. Ultra- 
isms of all kinds should be avoided. They are 
serious obstacles to Christian unity, and do 
great injury to the cause of truth. 

4. We must bow with profound reverence 
to the teachings of God's word, and receive 
its doctrines with implicit faith. The Bible 
would lose its chief value and significance, if 
we should subtract from it the doctrines of 
grace ; and the more the Bible is studied with 
a humble and pious heart, the more harmoni- 
ous will be the views of Christians, both as 
to what these doctrines are, and as to the 
proper, scriptural mode of expressing them. 

5. We must contemplate these doctrines in 
their relation to the heart as well as the head, 



268 GRACE AND GLORY. 

and endeavour to feel, and have others feel their 
saving power. An inward unity of faith, 
which is common to all true Christians, con- 
cerning the grand principles which constitute 
the doctrines of grace, will, in due time, by 
increasing knowledge of God's word, and the 
illumination of the Holy Spirit, produce a 
substantial unity in the manner of giving ut- 
terance to all essential and vital truth. 
Among the saints in heaven, the agreement 
is perfect, both in spirit and language. John 
Calvin and John Wesley are now chanting the 
same songs, and in the same words. Let 
us pray and labour that it may be so with the 
church on earth ; thus fulfilling our Saviour's 
prayer, " That they all may be one ; as thou 
Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
may be one in us." 

Henry James thanked his father for this 
expression of his views, and they both retired 
to rest. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 269 



CONVERSATION VII. 

GRACE CONSUMMATED IN GLORY, OR THE 
BLESSED AND GLORIOUS ISSUES OF GRACE IN 
THE HEAVENLY WORLD. 

Henry James, having been apprised of the 
subject of conversation at the time appointed 
for their next meeting, said to his father when 
they met, I have been reading a delightful 
piece of poetry on heaven, a few lines of which 
with your permission I will repeat. They 
express my present desires and feelings. 

Oh, talk to me of heaven ! I love 
To hear about my home above ; 
For there doth many a loved one dwell, 
In light and joy ineffable. 

Oh, tell me how they shine and sing, 
While every harp rings echoing, 
And every glad and tearless eye 
Beams like the bright sun gloriously. 
23* 



270 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Tell me of that victorious palm 

Each hand in glory beareth, 
Tell me of that celestial calm 

Each face in glory weareth. 

Oh, happy, happy country ! where 

There entereth not a sin ; 
And death who keeps its portals fair 

May never once come in. 

Mr. James remarked, Heaven is a delight- 
ful theme, and the poetry you have quoted 
concerning it is very beautiful. I proposed 
to you this topic as a suitable conclusion of 
our conversations on the doctrines of grace. 
Grace has been described as glory begun, and 
glory as grace consummated. The blessed 
and glorious issues of grace in the upper 
world, embrace all the ideas which belong es- 
sentially to the happiness and glory of heaven 
as described in the Bible ; all indeed which can 
be conceived of as essential to our happiness any 
where in the universe of God. 

We have Scripture warrant for regarding 
heaven as surpassingly grand and magnificent 
in outward appearance. Hence there was 



GRACE AND GLORY. 271 

some foundation for the beautiful thought of a 
little Swedish girl, when absorbed in gazing 
at the starry skies. Being asked of what she 
was thinking, she said, " I was thinking, if 
the wrong side of Heaven is so glorious, what 
must the right side be !" In her imagination, 
the wrong side was that which looked on our 
world ; and she inferred that the right side, 
which looks towards the throne of God and 
the Lamb, must be glorious indeed. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that the 
external grandeur of heaven is not the only 
nor even the chief thing which renders that 
world attractive to God's people ; and there- 
fore, while I would not have you overlook any 
circumstance mentioned by the sacred writers, 
in describing the happy condition of glorified 
saints, I wish to direct your particular atten- 
tion to those spiritual elements of happiness 
for which divine grace is especially designed 
and adapted to prepare us. 



272 GRACE AND GLORY. 

THE INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN ARE HOLY. 
FRIENDS WILL KNOW EACH OTHER IN HEA- 
VEN. ANECDOTE OF A SCOTCH MINISTER. 
MYRIADS OF INFANTS WILL BE FOUND 
THERE. 

The crowning glory of the heavenly world, 
said Mr. James, and the chief source of bliss to its 
inhabitants, are the manifestation of the divine 
presence, the beatific vision of which will be 
ever present to the enraptured and adoring 
worshipper, through eternity. None but holy 
beings will be permitted to enjoy this sight. 
" The pure in heart shall see God." Indeed 
if it were possible (as it is not) for unsancti- 
fied persons to obtain this view, it would not 
be a source of delight, because we can derive 
no pleasure from beholding an object which 
does not harmonize with our moral tastes and 
perceptions. But the highest conceivable 
happiness which can be enjoyed by holy beings, 
is their communion with God, and in heaven 
this communion will be perfect. "In his 
presence is fulness of joy." 



GRACE AND GLORY. 273 

Again, heaven is rendered happy and 
glorious by the blissful fellowship which the 
inhabitants enjoy in each other ; and in order 
to this they must all possess the same moral 
characters. The angels who kept not their 
first estate, could not remain a moment in 
heaven after their fall. Their exclusion was 
a matter of necessity as well as justice, be- 
cause their continuance there would have 
marred the bliss of that world. It is not so- 
ciety alone which makes us happy, but congen- 
ial society ; and not this alone, for the devils 
are not happy in each other's society, though 
they are all alike sinful. A holy society alone 
possesses the inherent elements of pure, ex- 
alted, and permanent happiness. Of this 
character are the saints in heaven. Their 
robes have been washed and made white in the 
blood of the Lamb. 

Henry James inquired, Do you think, father, 
that friends will know each other in hea- 
ven ? 

Mr. James responded, I will answer you by 
referring to an old Scotch minister, whose wife 



274 GRACE AND GLORY. 

asked him this same question. He replied, 
" To be sure we shall ; do you think we shall be 
greater fools there than we are here?" Then, 
after a moment's pause, he remarked further, 
" But I may be a thousand years in heaven with- 
out having seen you ; for the first thing which 
will attract my notice when I arrive there, will 
be my dear Saviour ; and I cannot tell when I 
shall be induced to look at any other object." 
As I have said, the crowning glory of heaven will 
be the beatific vision of God in Christ ; and 
this may so fully absorb the minds of the 
saints, that those around them may be com- 
paratively unnoticed. Yet I doubt not they 
will be thought of, and recognized, and that 
their knowledge of each other will contribute 
to their enjoyment. 

Henry asked again, Are infants found in 
heaven, father ? 

Yes, said Mr. James, I have no doubt that 
myriads of infants are found in heaven. In- 
deed my belief is, and this is the common 
belief of the Presbyterian church, (I know of 
none who think otherwise,) that all dying in 



GRACE AND GLORY. 275 

infancy are saved. They are not saved however 
on the ground of their being born holy, for this 
is not true ; but on the ground of their belong- 
ing to God's elect, of their being redeemed by 
Christ's blood, and being regenerated and 
sanctified by the Holy Spirit. If they are 
born holy, they would have no need of re- 
demption or regeneration, and consequently 
their salvation could not be ascribed either to 
Christ or the Holy Spirit ; and hence their admis- 
sion to heaven would be based on a different 
foundation from that of others; which is a 
sentiment that has no Scriptural authority. 
Their salvation, like that of all other sinners 
who go to heaven, is entirely of grace. In 
the words of one of our hymns, 

Behold what matchless, tender love 

Doth Christ to babes display ; 
He bids each parent bring them near, 

Nor turns the least away. 

See how he takes them in his arms, 

With smiles upon his face ; 
And says his kingdom is of such, 

By free and sovereign grace. 



276 GRACE AND GLORY. 

The words of our Lord, " For of such is the 
kingdom of heaven, " to which allusion is made 
in one of these lines, do not assert in terms, 
that all little children belong to his kingdom, 
but only that his kingdom is composed of such, 
i. £., that little children are found there. Yet 
as he assigns no reason which does not apply 
to all infants as much as to any, his language 
strongly favours the sentiment that all dying 
in infancy are saved. This doctrine may also 
be inferred from Matt, xviii., where Christ 
placed a little child in the midst, and dis- 
coursed therefrom concerning his kingdom 
concluding with the words, (v. 14.) "Even so 
it is not the will of your Father which is in 
heaven, that one of these little ones should 
perish." Though the words, "little ones," 
are not identical w T ith "little children," in 
ver. 3. yet the analogy which Christ institutes 
between the two, seems to justify the inference 
that none dying in infancy will perish. Several 
other Scriptures corroborate this idea, from 
all which taken together, infant salvation is 
commonly held to be a Bible doctrine. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 277 

Henry. Does not the Presbyterian Confes- 
sion of Faith imply, by using the phrase, 
" elect infants, dying in infancy," that some 
infants dying in infancy are lost ? 

Mr. James. No. The subject where this 
phrase occurs is effectual calling, which in 
ordinary cases, our Confession teaches, is 
through the u word and Spirit;" but in the 
case of "elect infants dying in infancy," they 
" are regenerated and saved by Christ through 
the Spirit," (*. e., through the Spirit alone,) 
" who worketh when, and where, and how, he 
pleaseth." The contrast here is between elect 
infants dying in infancy, and elect infants not 
dying in infancy. Elect infants not dying in 
infancy may be regenerated in infancy, and 
sometimes they are, for God is able to do this. 
But if he takes them out of the world in in- 
fancy, he always regenerates them before 
they die ; and hence our Confession of Faith 
virtually teaches, that non-elect persons never 
die in infancy. It is therefore a fair deduction 
from the language of our Confession, that 
those eminent divines who originally framed 
24 



278 GRACE AND GLORY. 

and adopted it, held that all dying in infancy 
are saved. 

Mr. James continued : The holiness of hea- 
ven is an essential characteristic of its glory. 
God himself is declared to be glorious in holi- 
ness. The angels are glorious, because they 
are holy. The saints are glorious, because 
they are " the spirits of just men made per- 
fect." Their employments are glorious, be- 
cause they consist largely in ascriptions of 
praise and adoration to the triune God, in 
whose presence they cease not day nor night, 
saying, u Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Al- 
mighty. " Our fitness for that world therefore 
depends on our being holy. " Without holi- 
ness no man shall see the Lord." And it is 
a source of joy to God's children that the cov- 
enant of grace provides for their entire deliv- 
erance from sin. They aspire after this 
deliverance daily, and with the assurance that 
though their warfare is to continue through life, 
they will at last obtain a complete victory, 
and enjoy in their own persons, what John 
says of the bride, at her marriage with 



GRACE AND GLORY. 279 

the Lamb : " To her was granted that she 
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and 
white : for the fine linen is the righteousness 
of saints." 

Palms of glory, raiment bright, 
Crowns that never fade away, 

Gird and deck the saints in light, 

Priests, and kings, and conquerors they. 

Yet the conquerors bring their palms 
To the Lamb amidst the throne ; 

And proclaim in joyful psalms, 
Victory through his cross alone. 

Kings for crowns their hearts resign, 
Crying as they strike the chords, 
" Take the kingdom, it is thine, 

King of kings and Lord of lords." 

Bound the altar priests confess, 
" If these robes are white as snow, 

Twas the Saviour's righteousness, 
And his blood that made them so." 

Who are these ? on earth they dwelt, 

Sinners once of Adam's race ; 
Guilt, and fear, and suffering felt, 

But were saved from all by grace. 



280 GRACE AND GLORY. 

They were mortal too like us ; 

Ah ! when we like them shall die, 
May our souls translated thus, 

Triumph, reign, and shine on high. 

THE GLORY OF HEAVEN DESCRIBED IN THE 
LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE — BUNYAN'S VIS- 
ION OF HEAVEN WHEN IT WAS ENTERED 
BY CHRISTIAN. 

In describing the glory of heaven, continued 
Mr. James, no language can equal the in- 
spired record. I have marked some passages 
in the Revelation, which I wish you to read. 
Henry read as follows : 

"And he carried me away in the spirit to a 
great and high mountain, and showed me that 
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out 
of heaven from God, having the glory of 
God : and her light was like unto a stone most 
precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as 
crystal ; and had a wall great and high, and 
had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve an- 
gels, and names written thereon, which are 
the names of the twelve tribes of the children 
of Israel/ ' . . . 



GRACE AND GLORY. 281 

"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; 
every several gate was of one pearl ; and the 
street of the city was pure gold, as it were 
transparent glass. And I saw no temple 
therein ; for the Lord God Almighty and the 
Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had 
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to 
shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten 
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof/ ' ... 

"And he showed me a pure river of water 
of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the 
throne of God and of the Lamb. In the 
midst of the street of it, and on either side 
of the river, was there the tree of life, which 
bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her 
fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree 
were for the healing of the nations. And 
there shall be no more curse : but the throne 
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and 
his servants shall serve him : and they shall 
see his face ; and his name shall be in their 
foreheads." . . . 

"And he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them. They shall hunger no 
24* 



282 GRACE AND GLORY. 

more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall 
the sun light on them, nor any heat. For 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto liv- 
ing fountains of waters : and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes." 

This vivid description of heaven, said Mr, 
James, must not be interpreted literally, but 
figuratively. Yet heaven is no less real, and 
no less glorious on this account. The figures 
employed apply to the nature of that glory, 
but do not affect its real or local existence. 
Heaven is a place. " I go to prepare a place 
for you." It is inhabited by living beings. 
Their state and mode of existence are changed ; 
but they are as truly themselves, and as sus- 
ceptible of personal enjoyment as they were 
in this world. The imagery employed in this 
description indicates that their happiness and 
glory will be as great in heaven, as their phy- 
sical natures would enjoy on earth, if they in- 
habited such a splendid city, and had access 
to such a blessed paradise as are here de- 
scribed. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 283 

That remarkable book written by John 
Bunyan, entitled, " The Pilgrim's Progress," 
is an allegory ; yet it describes the life of a 
Christian as truly as if it was a literal his- 
tory of a traveller going from the city of 
Destruction to the New Jerusalem. I com- 
mend that book to your attentive perusal. 
You will find it highly instructive as well as 
interesting. When Christian and his compan- 
ion Hopeful, had passed the river which sepa- 
rated them from the gate of the celestial city, 
they were met by " two shining ones," who 
told them they were " ministering spirits sent 
forth to minister for those that shall be heirs 
of salvation. Thus they went along towards 
the gate." Henry, you may take the book, 
and read a part of the account of what then 
occurred. You will see that the imagery is 
drawn, not from Bunyan's imagination, but 
from the Bible, and this is the reason why the 
description is so graphic and enchanting. 
Henry read as follows : 

" Now while they were thus drawing towards 
the gate, behold a company of the heavenly 



284 GRACE AND GLOKY. 

host came out to meet them : to whom it was 
said by the other two shining ones, These are 
the men that have loved our Lord, when they 
were in the world, and that have left all for his 
holy name ; and he hath sent us to fetch 
them, and we have brought them thus far on 
their desired journey, that they may go in 
and look their Redeemer in the face with joy. 
Then the heavenly host gave a great shout, 
saying, ' Blessed are they that are called to 
the marriage supper of the Lamb !' There 
came out also at this time to meet them sev- 
eral of the King's trumpeters, clothed in white 
and shining raiment, who, with melodious 
noises and loud, made even the heavens to 
echo with their sound. These trumpeters sal- 
uted Christian and his fellow with ten thou- 
sand welcomes from the world ; and this they 
did with shouting and sound of trumpet. * * 
" Now I saw in my dream, that these two 
men went in at the gate ; and lo ! as they en- 
tered, they were transfigured ; and they had 
raiment put on, that shone like gold. There 
were also that met them with harps and 



GRACE AND GLORY. 285 

crowns, and gave them to them ; the harps to 
praise withal, and the crowns in token of 
honour. * * * * * 

"Now just as the gates were opened to let 
in the men, I looked in after them, and be- 
hold the city shone like the sun ; the streets 
also were paved with gold ; and in them 
walked many men with crowns on their heads, 
palms in their hands, and golden harps, to 
sing praises withal. There were also of them 
that had wings, and they answered one 
another without intermission, saying, ' Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord.' And after that they 
shut up the gates ; which when I had seen, I 
wished myself among them." * * * 

THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION BODY. 

When Henry had read these extracts, he 
said, Are the representations of heaven, 
found in the book of Revelation, and re- 
peated in the Pilgrim's Progress, designed to 
describe the glory of believers immediately 
after death, or only after the resurrection of 
their bodies ? If the former, please tell me, 



286 GRACE AND GLORY* 

father, wherein consists the peculiar glory of 
the resurrection body. 

Mr. James replied, Some think that the 
saints receive new, spiritual bodies immediately 
after death, and hence that they do not enter 
heaven at all without bodies. Persons who 
hold this docrine, interpret those texts of 
Scripture which speak of the resurrection, in 
a metaphorical or figurative sense, and they 
deny altogether the future, and literal resur- 
rection of the body from the grave at the day 
of judgment. Concerning this opinion it is 
sufficient to remark, that such an interpreta- 
tion of Scripture is forced ; that it is not au- 
thorized by a fair construction of the words 
and phrases which treat of this subject, and 
that it is contrary to the express mention of 
the time when the resurrection will occur, viz., 
not at death, but at a period still future, when 
the last trumpet shall sound, to summon the 
world to the bar of God. 

During the intermediate state between death 
and the final judgment, the souls of believers 
shall dwell in the glorious presence of Christ, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 287 

and hold sweet communion with each other. 
Our Lord's promise to the penitent thief on 
the cross, " To-day shalt thou be with me in 
Paradise,'' is fulfilled to every dying believer. 
As your catechism expresses it, "The souls 
of believers are, at their death, made perfect 
in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
glory ; and their bodies, being still united to 
Christ, do rest in their graves till the resur- 
rection." 

If the Scripture texts which you have read, 
describing the glory of heaven, are to be in- 
terpreted figuratively, as I have told you, 
they are applicable to the glory into which 
believers enter immediately after death. But 
they will nevertheless have a more full appli- 
cation to the still greater glory which they 
will enjoy in their resurrection bodies. To 
quote again from the catechism, "At the re^ 
surrection, believers being raised up in glory, 
shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted 
in the day of judgment, and made perfectly 
blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all 
eternity.' ' 



288 GRACE AND GLORY. 

The glory of their resurrection state, as 
distinguished from the preceding one, after 
their arrival in heaven, cannot be fully ex- 
plained. The reunion of their souls with 
their bodies, the transformation of their bodies 
into the likeness of Christ's glorious body, 
and the public honour conferred on them in 
their being openly acknowledged by God as 
his friends and children, in the presence of 
myriads of saints and angels, may be men- 
tioned as some of the circumstances which 
will constitute the peculiar glory of the re- 
surrection body. An inspired description of 
the resurrection body is given by Paul in the 
first epistle to the Corinthians, fifteenth chap- 
ter, a part of which you may read. I will 
premise however that, in the same chapter, the 
apostle establishes the truth of the doctrine 
of the resurrection, from the resurrection of 
Christ ; and he attaches so much importance to 
it as to affirm that the truth of Christianity 
itself depends upon the truth of the resur- 
rection of the body. " If there be no resur- 
rection of the dead, then is Christ not risen : 



GRACE AND GLORY. 289 

and if Christ be not risen, then is our preach- 
ing vain, and your faith is also vain." 

Concerning the resurrection body Paul says, 
( Henry now took the Bible and read,) "It is 
sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; 
it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : 
it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; 
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
body. And so it is written, The first man 
Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam 
was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that 
was not first which is spiritual, but that which 
is natural ; and afterward that which is spir- 
itual. The first man is of the earth, earthy : 
the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
As is the earthy, such are they also that are 
earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they 
also that are heavenly. And as we have 
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also 
bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I 
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot in- 
herit the kingdom of God ; neither doth cor- 
ruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show 

you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but 
25 



290 GRACE AND GLORY. 

we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for 
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall 
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed. For this corruptible must put on 
incorruption, and this mortal must put on im- 
mortality. So when this corruptible shall 
have put on incorruption, and this mortal 
shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory. death, 
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy 
victory ? The sting of death is sin ; and the 
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
God, which giveth us the victory, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Oh, said Henry, as he finished reading this 
passage, what triumphant joy the apostle must 
have felt, when he penned these words ! 
With such glorious prospects as these before 
us, how happy might we be in view of death ! 
And how valuable would be the dying testi- 
mony we might thus leave behind us, to the 
truth and importance of Christianity ! 



GRACE AND GLORY. 291 



THE GLORY OF HEAVEN ANTICIPATED IN THE 
DYING ECSTASIES OF BELIEVERS — TOPLADY, 
SCOTT, EVARTS, PAYSON. 

Mr. James replied, A peaceful and happy 
death, if not preceded by a pious life, must 
be generally regarded with suspicion. I say 
generally, not always. Persons sometimes 
truly repent at the eleventh hour, and die in 
great peace of mind. Such cases, however, 
are exceptions to a general rule. But when we 
witness a holy and godly life, closing its bright 
career, by a joyful and even ecstatic death, 
we justly regard it as an important dying tes- 
timony, superadded to a previous living one, 
of the incalculable value of an interest in 
Christ. Atheists have no foundation for rap- 
ture in the hour of death. The prospect of 
annihilation, which, according to their belief, 
is all they expect, cannot possibly be a ground 
for joy. They may be indifferent, but not 
joyful. Deists are a step in advance of 
Atheists, yet their religious principles are too 
cold and cheerless to become a source of joy 



292 GRACE AND GLORY. 

in death. Christians, it is true, do not always 
die in ecstasies ; and hence the absence of such 
manifestations is not to be taken as a mark 
against their piety, when they have given pre- 
vious evidence of its being genuine. But 
where these ecstasies exist, it is legitimate to 
refer to them, as evidences of the joyful and 
glorious manifestations of God's presence, who 
thus favours his people with an anticipation 
of the glory of heaven. I will select a few 
examples from a long list which lies before 
me. 

Mr. Toplady, a distinguished English divine 
of the last century, closed a long and emi- 
nently holy life by a triumphant death. In 
addition to other similar expressions of tri- 
umphant joy, he said, " Oh what a day of sun- 
shine has this been to me ! 1 have no words 
to express it ; it is unutterable. Oh what de- 
lights ! who can fathom the joys of the third 
heaven ? The sky is clear — there is no cloud ; 
come Lord Jesus, come quickly.' ' 

Dr. Scott, the commentator, had few equals 
as a conscientious and holy man. As he was 



GRACE AND GLORY. 293 

leaving the world, he exclaimed with rapture, 
" This is heaven begun ; I have done 
with darkness for ever. Satan is vanquished. 
Nothing remains but salvation with eternal 
glory — eternal glory /" 

Mr. Evarts, a lawyer by profession, and 
secretary of the American Board of Commis- 
sioners for Foreign Missions, was distinguished 
during his life, as a consistent, active, and de- 
vout Christian. Just before his death, he 
uttered these rapturous expressions ; " 
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful glory ! We 
cannot comprehend — wonderful glory ! I will 
praise him ! I will praise him ! Wonderful — 
glory ! — Jesus reigneth." 

Dr. Payson, a New England pastor, owing 
chiefly to physical causes, had many alterna- 
tions of light and shade, during the greater 
part of his life. But he served his Master 
with zeal and fidelity, regardless of his vari- 
able frames of mind. For the last three or four 
weeks prior to his decease, his ecstasy was 
remarkable. A letter which he indited, was 
clothed in language of surpassing rapture, and 
25* 



294 GRACE AND GLORY. 

some of the remarks which fell from his lips were 
equally triumphant. He said, " Hitherto I 
have viewed God as a fixed star, bright indeed, 
but often intercepted by clouds. But now he 
is coming nearer and nearer, and he spreads 
into a sun so vast and so glorious, that the 
sight is too dazzling for flesh and blood to sus- 
tain. Victory, victory ! peace, peace !" 

I remember, father, said Henry James, an 
instance of extraordinary peace and joy on a 
dying bed, not long ago, (Mr. A.,) and I 
doubt not you recollect it too, for you were 
there, and repeated several stanzas of a 
hymn which greatly delighted our dying 
friend. I committed the words to memory, 
and can repeat them now. They are as fol- 
lows: 

Our journey is a thorny maze, 

But we march upward still ; 
Forget these troubles of the ways, 

And reach at Sion's hill. 

See the kind angels, at the gates, 

Inviting us to come ; 
There Jesus, the Forerunner, waits 

To welcome travellers home. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 295 

There on a green and flowery mount, 

Our weary souls shall sit, 
And, with transporting joys, recount 

The labours of our feet. 

No vain discourse shall fill our tongue, 

Nor trifles vex our ear ; 
Infinite grace shall be our song, 

And God rejoice to hear. 

Eternal glory to the King, 

Who brought us safely through ; 

Our tongues shall never cease to sing, 
And endless praise renew. 

Yes, said Mr. James, I recollect the instance 
you allude to, perfectly well. I have seldom 
witnessed greater ecstasy in a dying hour than 
was manifested on that occasion. I remember 
too how earnestly he addressed his family, 
speaking to each member in turn, and with a 
countenance beaming with joy, charging them 
all to meet him in heaven. Surely, thought 
I, an appeal so powerful as that must win 
their hearts to Christ. But alas ! alas ! I 
will not say any more, except that I hope and 
pray that the Holy Spirit will ere long make 



296 GRACE AND GLORY. 

that providence the means of bringing salvation 
to each member of that dear family. Some of 
them are Christians now, but not all. Would 
to God that the remainder may speedily ex- 
perience that change of heart, which made 
their pious father's death so joyful and triumph- 
ant. 

THE GLORY OF HEAVEN COMPLETE — NOTHING 
IS WANTING TO MAKE THE SAINTS PERFECTLY 
HAPPY. 

Mr. James further remarked, When be- 
lievers arrive at heaven, they will find their 
bliss far surpassing their highest expectations. 
The Psalmist calls it " fulness of joy." The 
largest desires of the soul will be fully satisfied, 
and nothing will be wanting to make the 
saints perfectly happy. In addition to the 
particulars already noticed, there is another 
part of the apostle John's vision of heaven, 
which contains a vivid description of its happi- 
ness derived from the physical world. " He 
shewed me," says John, " a pure river of 
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out 



GRACE AND GLORY. 297 

of the throne of God and of the Lamb, ' ' and " the 
tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits, 
and yielded her fruit every month." And 
"there shall be no more curse." " They shall 
hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of 
the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

These strong and beautiful figures are de- 
signed to show that the bliss of heaven is com- 
plete, that the glorified saints not only enjoy 
happiness, but are free from every impediment 
which would tend in the least degree to mar 
their enjoyment. The curse consequent upon 
sin is wholly removed. There is neither hun- 
ger, nor thirst, neither pain, sorrow, nor tears. 
All that the imagination can conceive con- 
cerning the happiness of our first parents in 
the garden of Eden, from its balmy winds, its 
fragrant trees, its pleasant shades, and its 
crystal fountains, is more than realized in 
the Paradise of God. And the saints are in- 



298 GRACE AND GLORY. 

troduced to the enjoyment of these pleasures 
by the Lamb of God himself, who becomes 
their companion and guide, to lead them and 
give them possession of whatever can delight 
their souls. 

Henry James remarked, I have lately read 
a pleasing illustration of the joy which flows 
from Christ, the Fountain of Life, derived 
from the joy of the Israelites when they re- 
ceived a supply of water in the wilderness ; 
and it occurred to me, if their joy was so 
great at receiving that necessary blessing, 
though only a temporal one, how much greater 
must be the joy experienced by the believer, 
as one of the fruits of faith in Christ, and es- 
pecially after this joy is consummated and 
made perfect in the world of glory ! 

Mr. James replied, The supply of water to 
the Israelites, during their sojournings in the 
wilderness, forms, next to the manna, one of the 
most remarkable portions of their history. The 
last incident of this kind occurred at Beer, near 
the border of Moab. The word Beer signi- 
fies a well, and the place was so called because 



GRACE AND GLORY. 299 

that was "the well whereof the Lord spake 
unto Moses, Gather the people together, and 
I will give them water. Then Israel sang this 
song, Spring up, well ; sing ye unto it." 
Num. xxi. 17. Their providential, and in two 
instances miraculous supply of water was an- 
nually celebrated by the Jews in succeeding 
generations, as a part of their sacred solemni- 
ties at the feast of Tabernacles. The priests 
drew water from the pool of Siloam, and with 
a multitude of people encompassed the altar 
seven times singing hosanna, and pouring out 
the water at the foot of the altar. So great 
was the joy manifested on that occasion, that 
Jewish writers say that a person who has not 
witnessed the joy of pouring out water has 
never witnessed joy in his life. 

Not long since, continued Mr. James, sim- 
ilar joy was manifested by the Arabs in the 
African desert, at the finding of water by the 
French engineers. While the engineers were 
engaged in boring, (I quote from a newspa- 
per,) " the Arabs looked on in silent wonder, 
until they saw the precious stream actually 



300 GRACE AND GLORY. 

gush forth, when their joy knew no bounds. 
They sang and danced around the wells as 
they successively appeard, gave them names 
of old, and even worshipped the engineers, 
whose marvellous skill had thup cleaved the 
fountains, which lay hid far beneath the arid 
and burning sands of the desert, and given 
them promise of an abundant supply of that 
priceless element, which to the inhabitants of 
tropical regions, is the very symbol of refresh- 
ment, fertility, and every thing that blesses 
life." 

These illustrations, said Mr. James, are 
quite suitable to show the joy of faith experi- 
enced by Christians on earth, but are very 
inadequate to describe the ecstatic bliss of the 
saints in glory ; unless indeed they be em- 
ployed by way of contrast, and then they are 
pertinent and forcible. In order to apply 
these figures to the heavenly world, you must 
imagine yourself, not as standing by water 
gushing from the earth in a desert, but as 
being transported from the wilderness of this 
world to " the throne of God and of the 



GRACE AND GLORY. 301 

Lamb ;" and a pure river of water of life clear 
as crystal, issuing from that throne, with all the 
accompanying scenery described by the in- 
spired revelator. Divesting your conceptions 
of every thing gross or sensual, you must 
adapt your thoughts to the elevated character 
and condition of the glorified saints. You 
must think of myriads of holy beings in the 
presence of their divine Redeemer, engaged in 
adoring and praising his name, and enjoying 
all the pure and exalted bliss which is associ- 
ated with an honoured citizenship in the New 
Jerusalem, and a free access to the celestial 
Paradise by which it is surrounded. In view 
of this scene, we might well exclaim, if 
the hope of heaven produces in believers on 
earth, "joy unspeakable and full of glory," 
how inconceivably joyful and glorious will be 
the reality ! Human language is too poor to 
describe it ; the human mind is too limited to 
comprehend it. 
26 



302 GRACE AND GLORY. 



THE PROSPECT OF HEAVEN OUGHT TO INFLU- 
ENCE CHRISTIANS TO LEAD A HEAVENLY 
LIFE ON EARTH — TRANCE OF REV. WILLIAM 
TENNENT, JR. 

Henry James remarked, With such glorious 
prospects before us, one would suppose that 
Christians would think and converse about 
heaven much more than they do. I read in 
some paper a short time ago, that a little girl 
in one of our cities, said to her mother, " You 
talk a great deal, mother, about getting ready to 
go into the country, but I never hear you say 
any thing about getting ready to go to hea- 
ven. Why is this, mother ?" I thought, that 
the question of that little girl was very sensi- 
ble, though pungent. 

You are correct, said Mr. James. The 
prospect of heaven ought to influence Chris- 
tians to lead a heavenly life on earth. The 
Apostle Paul enjoins, " If ye then be risen 
with Christ, seek those things which are above, 
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
Set your affection on things above not on 



GRACE AND GLORY. 303 

things on the earth." Again he asserts con- 
cerning himself, and his brethren of the prim- 
itive church, " Our conversation is in heaven ; 
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the 
Lord Jesus, who shall change our vile body, 
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
body." The Apostle Peter also exhorts, 
" Seeing then that all these things, [the vis- 
ible heavens] shall be dissolved, what man- 
ner of persons ought ye to be in all holy 
conversation and godliness, looking for and 
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, 
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat ! Nevertheless we, according to his prom- 
ise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, 
beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be 
diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, 
without spot and blameless." 

Mr. James continued, God does not often 
permit his people to visit heaven, and then re- 
turn again to this world. He designs to have 
us walk by faith, not by sight. And if we 



304 GRACE AND GLORY. 

possess true faith, we have no need of going 
to heaven in order to assure us of its reality, 
or of our own interest in it ; because " faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evi- 
dence of things not seen." But in a few in- 
stances, the Lord has granted an actual view 
of that world, and we have their testimony 
in general terms, of what they saw and heard, 
as far as they were allowed to give it. The ap- 
ostle Paul was thus favoured ; (see 2 Cor. xii. 
2 — 5,) but all which he reported was that he 
" heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful 
for a man to utter." One of the most remark- 
able instances of this kind was the trance of 
the Rev. William Tennent, Jr., of Freehold, 
N. J. a little more than a century ago. Mr. 
Tennent was one of three brothers, all eminent 
ministers, and sons of the Rev. William Ten- 
nert, founder of a famous school of that day, 
for educating candidates for the gospel min- 
istry, which received the name of the Log 
College. A highly interesting volume with 
this title, from the pen of the Rev. Dr. Archibald 
Alexander, is published by the Presbyterian 



GRACE AND GLORY. 305 

Board of Publication. This volume contains 
the account of the trance of Rev. Wm. Ten- 
nent, Jr., a part of which you may read ; not to 
introduce the subject of trances, but to show the 
effect which a sight of heaven is adapted to pro- 
duce on the mind ; and to deepen the impres- 
sion that our contemplation of heaven ought 
to be such as to produce a similar effect on us, 
as the sight of it did on him, at least to the 
extent of elevating our affections above this 
world, and increasing more and more, from day 
to day, our delight in heavenly things. This 
account of Mr. Tennent is well authenticated, 
and as we are told, it was universally credited 
at the time by those who had knowledge of the 
occurrence. 

Henry James took the book and read as fol- 
lows : 

"After a regular course of study in theology, 
Mr. Tennent was preparing for his examina- 
tion, as a candidate for the gospel ministry. 
His intense application affected his health, and 
brought on a pain in his breast, and a slight 
hectic. He soon became emaciated, and at 
26* 



306 GRACE AND GLORY. 

length was like a living skeleton. His life 
was now threatened. He was attended by a 
physician, a young gentleman who was at- 
tached to him by the strictest and warmest 
friendship. He grew worse and worse, till lit- 
tle hope was left. In this situation, his 
spirits failed him, and he began to entertain 
doubts of his final happiness. He was con- 
versing one morning with his brother in Latin, 
on the state of his soul, when he fainted and 
died away. After the usual time he was laid 
out on a board, according to the common prac- 
tice of the country, and the neighbourhood 
were invited to attend his funeral on the next 
day. 

"In the evening his physician and friend re- 
turned from a ride in the country, and was af- 
flicted beyond measure at the news of his death. 
He could not be persuaded that it was certain ; 
and on being told that one of the persons who 
had assisted in laying out the body thought 
he had observed a little tremor of the flesh, 
under the arm, although the body was cold 
and stiff, he endeavoured to ascertain the fact. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 307 

He first put his own hand into warm water, to 
make it as sensible as possible, and then felt 
under the arm, and at the heart, and affirmed 
that he felt an unusual warmth, though no one 
else could. He had the body restored to a 
warm bed, and insisted that the people who 
had been invited to the funeral should be re- 
quested not to attend. To this the brother 
objected, as absurd, the eyes being sunk, the 
lips discoloured, and the whole body cold and 
stiff. However, the doctor finally prevailed, 
and all probable means were used to discover 
symptoms of returning life. But the third 
day arrived, and no hopes were entertained of 
success but by the doctor, who never left him 
night nor day. The people were again invited, 
and assembled to attend the funeral. The doctor 
still objected, and at last confined his delay to 
one hour, then to half an hour, and finally to 
a quarter of an hour. He had discovered 
that the tongue was very much swollen, and 
threatened to crack. He was endeavouring 
to soften it, by some emollient ointment put 
upon it by a feather, when his brother came 



308 GRACE AND GLORY. 

in about the expiration of the last period, and 
mistaking what the doctor was doing for an 
attempt to feed him, manifested some resent- 
ment, and in a spirited tone, said, "It is 
shameful to be feeding a lifeless corpse ;" 
and insisted with earnestness, that the funeral 
should immediately proceed. At this critical 
and important moment, the body, to the great 
alarm and astonishment of all present, 
opened its eyes, gave a dreadful groan, and 
sunk again into apparent death. This put an 
end to all thought of burying him, and every 
effort was again employed in hopes of bringing 
about a speedy resuscitation. In about an 
hour, the eyes again opened, a heavy groan 
proceeded from the body, and again all ap- 
pearance of animation vanished. In another 
hour life seemed to return with more power, 
and a complete revival took place, to the 
great joy of the family and friends, and to the 
no small astonishment and conviction of very 
many who had been ridiculing the idea of re- 
storing to life a dead body. 



GRACE AND GLORY. 309 

The writer of these memoirs was greatly- 
interested by these uncommon events ; and on 
a favourable occasion, earnestly pressed Mr. 
Tennent for a minute account of what his views 
and apprehensions were, while he lay in this 
extraordinary state of suspended animation. 
He discovered great reluctance to enter into 
any explanation of his perceptions and feel- 
ings, at this time ; but, being importunately 
urged to do it, he at length consented, and 
proceeded with a solemnity not to be de- 
scribed : 

"While I was conversing with my brother," 
said he, "on the state of my soul, and the 
fears I had entertained for my future welfare, 
I found myself, in an instant, in another state 
of existence, under the direction of a supe- 
rior being, who ordered me to follow him. I 
was accordingly wafted along, I know not how, 
till I beheld at a distance an ineffable glory, 
the impression of which on my mind it 
is impossible to communicate to mortal 
man. I immediately reflected on my happy 
change, and thought : — Well, blessed be 



810 GRACE AND GLORY. 

God ! I am safe at last, notwithstanding all 
my fears. I saw an innumerable host of 
happy beings surrounding the inexpressible 
glory, in acts of adoration and joyous worship ; 
but I did not see any bodily shape or repre- 
sentation in the glorious appearance. I heard 
things unutterable. I heard their songs and 
hallelujahs of thanksgiving and praise with 
unspeakable rapture. I felt joy unutterable 
and full of glory. I then applied to my con- 
ductor, and requested leave to join the happy 
throng; on which he tapped me on the 
shoulder, and said, ' You must return to the 
earth.' This seemed like a sword through my 
heart. In an instant I recollect to have seen 
my brother standing before me, disputing with 
the doctor. The three days during which I 
had appeared lifeless, seemed to me not more 
than ten or twenty minutes. The idea of re- 
turning to this world of sorrow and trouble, 
gave me such a shock, that I fainted re- 
peatedly.' ' 

He added, "Such was the effect on my mind 
of what I had seen and heard, that if it be 



GRACE AND GLORY. 311 

possible for a human being to live entirely 
above the world and the things of it, for some 
time afterwards I was that person. The rav- 
ishing sound of the songs and hallelujahs that 
I heard, and the very words uttered, were not 
out of my ears when awake, for at least three 
years. All the kingdoms of the earth were 
in my sight as nothing and vanity ; and so 
great were my ideas of heavenly glory, that 
nothing which did not in some measure re- 
late to it, could command my serious atten- 
tion." 

Henry James was elated by this extraordi- 
nary account ; upon which his father remarked, 
I am not surprised, Henry, at your being 
elated, but I wish you to notice, particularly, 
the last few lines, which state the elevating ef- 
fect of the scene on Mr. Tennent's mind. As 
I told you at the beginning, it was in order to 
show this, that I requested you to read it. 
You are as fully assured of the existence of 
that blessed and glorious world as though you 
had been there. Let you£ thoughts often soar 



312 GRACE AND GLORY. 

thither ; and let earthly things be kept under 
your feet. 

To take a glimpse within the veil, 

To know that God is mine, 
Are springs of joy that never fail, 

Unspeakable, divine. 

These are the joys which satisfy, 

And sanctify the mind ; 
Which make the spirit mount on high, 

And leave the world behind. 

HOW THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE ARE VIEWED 
BY THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN. 

Mr. James further remarked, I have one 
thought more to notice, before I close. Sup- 
pose yourself now to be in that world, about 
which we have been conversing so delightfully, 
and to be inquiring what views are entertained 
by the saints in glory concerning the doctrines 
of grace — suppose yourself, I say, to be there, 
and you and them to be looking back to a past 
eternity, and thinking of that " love divine all 
love excelling," by which you were chosen in 
Christ to be holy and happy for ever : to be 



GRACE AND GLORY. 313 

thinking of Christ your Redeemer, who conde- 
scended to come into the world to die for you ; 
of the grace of the Holy Spirit in quickening 
you when you were dead in trespasses and 
sins ; of the mercy of God in your justification, 
adoption, and sanctification ; and of his con- 
stant care over you, to keep you in the right 
way, to give you victory over your spiritual 
enemies, and prepare you for an abundant en- 
trance into his everlasting kingdom. If a 
doubt has ever rested on your mind, with re- 
gard to any one of these doctrines, I am quite 
sure you will feel no such doubt, on your ar- 
rival in the world of bliss. Every saint in 
that happy land rejoices to acknowledge that 
his entrance there is an example and an illus- 
tration of grace triumphing in glory ; and that 
the doctrines of grace are so many links in 
the golden chain of mercy, by which he has 
been conducted to heaven. 
27 



314 GRACE AND GLORY. 



CONCLUSION. 

In concluding these conversations, I earn- 
estly counsel the dear youth to whom they are 
particularly dedicated, that they give diligent 
heed not to " fail of the grace of God." "Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk 
without money and without price. " " Seek ye 
the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon 
him while he is near." " The Spirit and the 
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth, 
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely." These gospel invitations are 
addressed to you, and they offer you pardon 
and eternal life on the ground of free grace, 
which is the only basis adapted to the condi- 
tion of sinners. You must be saved by grace, 



GRACE AND GLORY. 315 

or not saved at all. This grace is brought 
nigh to you in God's word. It is sufficient 
for the chief of sinners. In the forcible and 
eloquent language of Dr. Guthrie, "At all 
times and seasons, faith and prayer find ful- 
ness of mercy and pardon, and of grace to 
sanctify, in Jesus Christ. The supply is in- 
exhaustible. Mountains have been exhausted 
of their gold, mines of their diamonds, and 
the depths of ocean of their pearly gems. 
The demand has emptied the supply. Over 
once busy scenes, silence and solitude now 
reign ; the caverns no longer ring to the miner's 
hammer, nor is the song of the pearl fisher heard 
upon the deep. But the riches of grace are 
inexhaustible. All that have gone before us 
have not made them less, and we shall make 
them no less to those that follow us. When 
they have supplied the wants of unborn mil- 
lions, the last of Adam's race, that lonely man 
over whose head the sun is dying, beneath 
whose feet the earth is reeling, shall stand by 
as full a fountain as this day invites you to 
drink and live, to wash and be clean." 



316 GRACE AND GLORY. 

Consider, unconverted reader, I beseech you, 
the great peril of your continuing in a grace- 
less state. It is no more certain that grace 
in the heart will be succeeded by eternal glory, 
than it is that the failure to obtain grace will 
result in eternal misery. The benevolent 
Saviour, whose love for sinners led him to lay 
down his life to save them from hell, distinctly 
affirmed that their ruin would be inevitable, 
notwithstanding his death, unless they re- 
pented of their sins, and put their trust in him 
as their Redeemer. " Except ye repent, ye 
shall all likewise perish. " " He that believeth 
not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath 
of God abideth on him. ,, These sentiments 
were repeatedly uttered, and he solemnly 
warned the people to flee from the wrath to 
come. The inspired apostles did the same 
thing, and in view of the threatened judg- 
ments of God, they urged the duty of immedi- 
ate repentance. " But [God] now commandeth 
all men every where to repent ; because he 
hath appointed a day in which he will judge 
the world in righteousness, by that man whom 



GRACE AND GLORY. 317 

he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given as- 
surance unto all men, in that he hath 
raised him from the dead." Again, " We must 
all appear before the judgment seat of 
Christ ; that every one may receive the things 
done in his body, according to that he hath 
done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing 
therefore the terror of the Lord, we per- 
suade men." Dear youth, let me persuade 
you. "Turn you to the strong hold, ye pris- 
oners of hope." This strong hold is Christ. 
He is " a hiding place from the wind, and a 
covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in 
a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock 
in a weary land." He invites, yea urges you 
to seek deliverance and salvation, through his 
grace. And he has promised, " Him that 
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." 
" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved." 

Seize the kind promise while it waits, 
And march to Zion's heavenly gates ; 
Believe and take the promised rest, 
Obey and be for ever blest. 
27* 



2S Jan 186»-i 



r 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 



*r ?i , 



LIBRARY 




